John Landis Guest Programs TCM in March

American Werewolf in London director, John Landis brings his bizarre sense of humor to Turner Classic Movies this month as he steps into the shoes of the guest programmer.

Landis will join TCM host Robert Osborne to present seven memorable films – including a Buster Keaton classic; three shorts featuring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Mabel Normand; a classic, groundbreaking musical; a cult horror film; and a masterful thriller from Alfred Hitchcock – on Monday, March 16, beginning at 8 p.m. (ET).

One of Landis’ pics is a real favorite of mine, the 1963 film The Brain that Wouldn’t Die. This cheezy horror-fest has a famous surgeon looking for a new body on which to sew his girlfriend’s head. While he’s looking, he keeps her head alive and talking in his lab and it’s nothing but nag, nag, nag.

They’ll also be airing Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy, a darkly humorous tale of an innocent man suspected of being a serial strangler.

Landis’ extensive film credits include National Lampoon’s Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places, Three Amigos!, Into the Night, Spies Like Us, Coming to America and Innocent Blood. He also wrote, produced and directed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” one of the most popular music videos of all time, and directed Jackson’s “Black and White” video. He also directed the critically acclaimed documentary Slasher.

Landis is also an active television producer and director, with such credits as Dream On, Psych, Masters of Horror, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Landis’ next project will be Burke and Hare, the story of the legendary grave robbers, for Ealing Studios in London.

Photo: Kyle Christy / TCM