Werewolves of London: John Carpenter almost made a movie based on the Warren Zevon song with Peter Fonda

Several years ago, during an interview with Pitchfork, genre icon John Carpenter revealed that (along with Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”) the Warren Zevon song “Werewolves of London” was stuck in his head throughout the production of the 1978 classic Halloween. Now, during a new interview with the LA Times, Carpenter added that he almost made a film adaptation of the Zevon song with actor Peter Fonda!

First, here’s what Carpenter told Pitchfork back in 2017: “Peter Fonda introduced me to Warren Zevon once. I said, ‘Where did this song (‘Werewolves of London’) come from?’ He said, ‘I was trying to write a dance record for the Everly Brothers, and I wrote this, and they didn’t do it, so I did it.’ As we were making Halloween, I remember that song playing over and over again in my head. It’s ridiculously funny. I mean, I’ve never heard a line like, ‘And his hair was perfect!’ Why? The rhyme pattern, ‘Little old lady got mutilated late last night.’ Just the tap-a-tap-a-tap-a-tap-pa-pa. It’s really unique.“

And here’s the addendum to that story from the LA Times interview: “He also kept soaking up contemporary influences, listening to Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves of London’ while location scouting for Halloween. Peter Fonda later introduced Carpenter to Zevon and he wanted the director to adapt the song into a film that never happened (starring Fonda as the werewolf, but ‘this time he gets the girl,’ Carpenter recalls).“

If you’d like to imagine what sort of movie Carpenter and Fonda could have made out of the Zevon song, here are the lyrics:

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of SoHo in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook’s
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein

Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo

You hear him howlin’ around your kitchen door
You better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again

Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo, huh

He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent
Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him, he’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
Huh, I’d like to meet his tailor

Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walkin’ with the Queen
Doin’ the werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walkin’ with the Queen, uh
Doin’ the werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinkin’ a piña colada at Trader Vic’s
And his hair was perfect

Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Huh, draw blood
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London

That had the makings of a hell of a horror comedy. Alas, John Carpenter’s Werewolves of London, starring Peter Fonda, was never to be. Instead, Carpenter and Fonda ended up working together on the 1996 Escape from New York sequel Escape from L.A.

Do you wish Carpenter and Fonda would have made their Werewolves of London movie? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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