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MOVIE INFO

Director:
John Landis
Cast:
David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter
Writing Credits:
John Landis

Synopsis:
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

Box Office:
Budget
$10 million.
Opening Weekend
$3,786,512 on 870 Screens.
Domestic Gross
$20,445,527.

MPAA:
Rated R.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Dolby Vision
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English DTS-HD MA 1.0
Subtitles:
English
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 98 min.
Price: $59.95
Release Date: 3/15/2022

Bonus:
• Audio Commentary with Actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne
• Audio Commentary with Film Historian Paul Davis
• “Mark of the Beast” Documentary
• “An American Filmmaker In London” Featurette
• “Wares of the Wolf” Featurette
• “The Werewolf’s Secret” Featurette
• “The Werewolf’s Call” Featurette
• “Beware the Moon” Documentary
• “I Walked with a Werewolf” Featurette
• “Making An American Werewolf in London” Vintage Featurette
• “An Interview with John Landis” Featurette
• “Makeup Artist Rick Baker” Featurette
• “Casting of the Hand” Featurette
• “An American Werewolf in Bob’s Basement” Featurette
• “Causing a Disturbance” Featurette
• Outtakes
• Storyboards
• Image Galleries
• Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots
• Booklet
• Poster
• Lobby Card Reproductions


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RELATED REVIEWS


An American Werewolf in London: Collector's Edition [4K UHD] (1981)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (February 7, 2022)

When it hit screens in 1981, An American Werewolf In London caused a sensation due to its groundbreaking visual effects. For the film’s key sequences in which a man turned into a werewolf, we actually got to see the transformation as it occurred.

No more cut-aways or superimpositions! Werewolf pushed the envelope and created a shocking new way to depict these occurrences.

41 years later, those effects don’t hold up tremendously well, though they also don’t seem terrible. The movie itself remains notable mainly for its visual innovations.

Werewolf did unspectacularly at the box office in 1981, but it maintained a decent cult following over the years. It also marked a trend toward a more comedic form of horror film, one that doled out irreverence and terror in nearly equal doses.

The film follows the adventures of college friends David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) as they backpack across England.

While in a creepier part of the country, they happen upon a spooky pub called the Slaughtered Lamb. The inhabitants aren’t the friendliest folks, so our boys soon hit the road.

David and Jack stray from the paved path despite multiple warnings not to do so, and they quickly discover the reasons for these admonitions when a beast kills Jack and wounds David.

The next thing we know, David’s hospitalized in London as he recovers from his wounds. There he meets - and falls for - sexy nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter). He also receives visits from the very-deceased Jack who tells David he must die or he’ll become a werewolf.

Slowly David starts to believe this, but he doesn’t get to the point where he can off himself. He tries to warn others of his impending transformation, but no one listens to him.

Ultimately David gets discharged from the hospital, and he quickly shacks up with Jenny, who shows concern for his condition. David flees when the big change occurs, and he hits the town for some nocturnal attacks. From there the movie deals with his status and works toward a conclusion, one that I won’t reveal here.

On the surface, Werewolf offers nothing that one couldn’t find in any number of other films about the topic, but it differs in its execution. As I noted earlier, the movie walks the line between comedy and terror.

In fact, so many people think of it more as the former that during an interview with director John Landis found on this disc, he begins with a declaration that it’s not a full-out comedy.

Given Landis’ background with films like The Kentucky Fried Movie, Animal House and The Blues Brothers, I can understand why folks would feel predisposed to consider Werewolf as a comedy, and its tone makes me more sympathetic to that camp. The film presents normally horrific events in a humorous light, such as the gradual decomposition of Jack.

He’s definitely not a spooky zombie, as instead, Dunne plays the role as his human self, but with physical differences. The flick also takes a funny attitude with the aftermath of David’s first rampage.

However, when the movie needs to go for more intense terror, it doesn’t shy away from such areas. Landis proves to be surprisingly adept at the violent sequences, as some of the attacks work quite well.

One that takes place in a tube station stands out particularly strongly, but all are fairly solid. I think the climax’s carnage goes on a bit too long and seems self-indulgent, but as a whole Landis stages these incidents in a concise and clear manner.

As for the actors, they seem competent but not exceptional. Dunne probably comes across as the most personable and effective, as he makes the most of his brief appearances.

Naughton feels acceptably likable but he remains fairly drab. Agutter appears about the same, and the two show pretty feeble chemistry.

Nonetheless, the cast works reasonably well for the piece, and Landis paces it nicely for the most part. That said, I must admit that I think he lets things sag a little too much at times.

Between the attack on the boys and David’s first transformation, a lot of screentime passes without much other than exposition. Landis probably could have released the wolf sooner, but I don’t think this becomes a fatal flaw.

The first transformation itself is an interesting piece. Although I expected the usual bombastic horror score, Landis chose to accompany the change with a gentle version of “Blue Moon”.

Though this could have appeared to undercut the drama, I feel it accentuates it, for the milquetoast tune highlights the onscreen violence. It’s a neat way to make the experience stand out more starkly.

Ultimately, An American Werewolf In London offers a fairly solid experience. The film straddles the realms of comedy and horror and becomes something new and fresh for the period.

Even after 41 years, the movie holds up pretty well. Some of the effects show their age, but the story remains interesting, and the flick builds to a satisfying climax.


The Disc Grades: Picture B/ Audio B-/ Bonus A

An American Werewolf in London appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This was a dated but generally good Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness seemed fairly solid. Occasional instances of soft shots materialized, but the majority of the movie showed pretty positive delineation and accuracy.

I saw no moiré effects or jagged edges, and no edge haloes appeared. In terms of print flaws, the film lacked any specks, marks or other issues.

Colors appeared reasonably accurate, though they didn’t come across as anything special. The movie used a fairly subdued palette and never attempted anything bright or dazzling.

This meant the acceptably precise and solid tones seemed sufficient. The disc’s HDR added impact occasionally, mainly due to the handful of brighter hues on display, such as from David’s bright red coat.

Black levels were acceptably deep, and shadow detail was mostly fine as well. Low-light shots could’ve been clearer, but they offered reasonable clarity and smoothness.

HDR brought some punch to whites and contrast. Nothing here excelled but this ended up as a more than watchable image given the movie’s age and photographic choices.

The film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix offered a dated but generally satisfying experience. The soundfield itself seemed to be fairly varied. Much of the track remained fairly heavily anchored to the front, but on some occasions, it spread nicely to the other speakers.

Music showed good stereo separation, and the mix provided a solid sense of atmosphere. Small sounds cropped up in the front side channels throughout the movie, and the rears added a nice feeling of environment.

During livelier scenes, the track became more involving. Wolf howls would pop up in isolated rear channels, and the sound blended together fairly neatly for an active and useful mix. The ambience made the movie more effective and complemented the action.

Audio quality showed its age but remained acceptable for its era. Although the lines didn’t sound very distinct or natural, they remained intelligible and free of edginess.

Music and effects were less consistent. Elmer Bernstein’s score came across as somewhat muddy. It showed an emphasis on the midrange and lower realms and lacked bright, crisp highs. While overall fidelity seemed to be acceptable for its age, it still sounded a bit blah.

Most of the effects presented fairly thin and flat tones, another artifact of their age. However, some of the sounds stood out as much clearer and more accurate.

I believe that some of the stems were re-recorded for the disc, which meant that elements like gunfire didn’t seem to mesh terribly well with older sounds. Oddly, this discrepancy favored the poorer audio quality; since so much of the track showed its 1981 roots, the newer, more accurate elements became a distraction.

In any case, those were kept to a minimum. Although I had some qualms about the audio quality, I thought the mix sounded as good as most other 41-year-old films, and the pretty good soundfield boosted my rating to a “B-”.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the ”Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray from 2019? Audio felt identical, as both appeared to sport the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix.

As for the Dolby Vision visuals, they worked a bit better, with superior delineation, colors and blacks. The nature of the source restricted improvements, so don’t expect the 4K to do wonders, but it became a little more satisfying than the Blu-ray.

All the Blu-ray’s extras repeat here, and we get two audio commentaries, the first of which comes from actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne.

Both men sit together for this running, screen-specific track. On a few occasions they offer some good information, but as a whole this feels like a spotty and dull commentary.

A great deal of the piece passes with no remarks from either man and a fair number of the facts we do hear seemed a bit bland. They become most compelling when they discuss the makeup effects.

For instance, one segment midway through the film includes some nice details about their experiences. However, these moments seem few and far between, so this turns into a below-average commentary.

For the second track, we hear from film historian Paul Davis. He brings his own running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, music, cast and performances, sets and locations, effects, and connected domains.

I don’t know how much preparation Davis did for this track, but I get the impression he basically showed up at the studio and said “let’s roll!”

Because Davis clearly knows a whole lot about the film, he delivers a pretty solid overview. He touches on the appropriate topics and does so with gusto.

Still, the commentary tends to ramble a little at times, and it doesn’t feel as tight as I’d like. Davis also makes some head-scratching errors, like when he refers to Muslim Cat Stevens as “Born Again” and he alludes to the then-non-existent “NC-17” rating. There’s more than enough to make a listen worthwhile, but I wish the track was a little more concise.

Next we find Making An American Werewolf In London, a featurette that came out during the period of the film’s 1981 theatrical release. At four minutes, 54 seconds, this piece is too short to offer much depth, but it presents a reasonably interesting batch of notes.

The shots from the set are especially useful, though. This becomes true especially as they detail director John Landis’ cameo in the film.

Speaking of whom, he’s the subject of An Interview with John Landis. Clocking in at 18 minutes, 21 seconds, this chat with the director provides an entertaining look at the film. Landis covers quite a few topics, from the film’s origins and his intentions to a variety of aspects of the production.

While I like his comments, I could have lived without the excessive number of movie clips. Landis gets constantly interrupted with film snippets, and some go on for far too long. It’s fine to toss in a brief bit to illustrate a point, but I got the feeling the disc’s producers forgot that we already own the movie.

A companion piece appears as well. Rick Baker on An American Werewolf In London gives us 11 minutes, 15 seconds of the famous makeup artist’s thoughts about the flick.

Baker neatly covers all of the relevant topics, from the transformation scenes to the mechanical wolf to the zombies; the brevity of the program means that we don’t get a wealth of information, but Baker makes the most with what he has.

Happily, we don’t see the excess of film clips found during the Landis interview. Instead, we mainly find “unused footage” of the mechanical wolf and some other effects elements. These essentially give us a glimpse of the work behind the effects, and they’re a nice addition to the package.

Another look at the creation of the effects pops up during Casting of the Hand. This 10-minute, 59-second piece shows exactly what the title states.

We watch snippets of the process through which Naughton had to go to have his hand cast; it was then used to make a puppet for the transformation scene.

Though the topic could become dull, instead it offers an interesting look at this side of the business. The editing makes sure that it doesn’t literally de-evolve into watching cement harden. It’s not tremendously fascinating, but it’s a reasonably fun look at the procedure.

More “behind the scenes” footage appears in the three minutes, seven seconds of silent Outtakes. Unlike the usual batch of unused material, most of these don’t show mistakes made by the actors.

Instead, they mainly offer shots just before or after takes. For example, we see the application of blood and goo onto Agutter prior to one shot. It’s a modest but interesting set of bits, especially with the inclusion of the nearly pornographic “Mysterious Footage” at the end.

Next we find a multipart documentary entitled Beware the Moon. It fills one hour, 37 minutes, 40 seconds with notes from Naughton, Landis, Dunne, Baker, cinematographer Robert Paynter, producer George Folsey, first AD David Tringham, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, art director Leslie Dilley, editor Malcolm Campbell, makeup artists Robin Grantham and Beryl Lerman, special effects assistant Joseph Ross, Steadicam operator Ray Andrew, special effects assistants Bill Sturgeon and Tom Hester, key grip/extra Dennis Fraser, production manager Joyce Herlihy, stunt man Vic Armstrong, and actors Jenny Agutter, David Schofield, John Woodvine, Linzi Drew, Michael Carter and Brenda Cavendish.

We learn about the film’s roots and development, story/character areas, cast and performances, sets and locations, costume and production design, audio, score and camerawork, makeup and effects, editing and ratings issues, the film’s release and legacy.

“Moon” provides a thorough and thoroughly enjoyable look at the movie. It covers a wide variety and subjects and does so in an enjoyable manner, factors that make it a worthwhile experience.

I Walked with a Werewolf runs seven minutes, 31 seconds and features Baker. He discusses his childhood interest in makeup and effects as well as his work on Werewolf. The program comes from the same sessions shot for “Moon” and some of Baker’s comments repeat from there, but he still gives us a few good insights.

After this we go to Mark of the Beast, a one-hour, 17-minute, 18-second documentary that features Landis, Naughton, filmmakers Mick Garris and Joe Dante, author/screenwriter Peter Atkins, writer/filmmaker Steve Haberman, makeup effects artists John Goodwin, Steve Johnson, Craig Reardon and Mike Hill, film historians Justin Humphreys, Richard Heft, Preston Neal Jones, Eric Hoffman and C. Courtney Joyner and author Phoef Sutton.

“Beast” offers an examination of werewolf legends/myths over the years, with an emphasis on film depictions, especially those under the Universal umbrella. It becomes a rich, informative overview of the genre.

With the 11-minute, 41-second An American Filmmaker in London, we hear more from Landis. He chats about British film influences, shooting in the UK, and aspects of the production. Though Landis repeats some earlier notes, he still makes this a fairly engaging reel.

Wares of the Wolf spans seven minutes, 58 seconds and provides comments from effects artists Dan Martin and Tim Lawes. They discuss and show us costumes and masks from the film. It’s a decent little take on the topic.

A “video essay” entitled I Think He’s A Jew: The Werewolf’s Secret runs 11 minutes, 26 seconds and provides notes from filmmaker Jon Spira. He talks about the ways the film and other werewolf legends confront the “Jewish identity”. That’s an unusual subject for a film like this, and Spira brings an intriguing program.

Via The Werewolf’s Call, we locate an 11-minute, 26-second program with filmmaker Corin Hardy and writer Simon Ward. They discuss their experiences with Werewolf and some impressions of the movie and its impact. It feels like a passable piece but nothing memorable.

The 4K UHD brings two new programs, and An Ameriican Werewolf in Bob’s Basement spans four minutes, 19 seconds and delivers a tour of collector Bob Burns’ American Werewolf props/memorabilia. Burns seems to own everything, so this turns into a fun look at his possessions.

With Causing a Disturbance, assistant director David Tringham leads us on a tour of some Piccadilly Circus locations. Shot in 2008, this reel runs six minutes, 35 seconds and offers a good view of these spots.

The Storyboards area provides a two-minute, 27-second look at the Piccadilly Circus climax. This running presentation shows the boards in the upper left corner of the screen with the movie itself in the lower right, and the latter blows up when boards aren’t available for certain segments. I’m not a big fan of storyboards, but these appear to be particularly well drawn, and the presentation seems good.

In addition to two trailers, a TV Spot and five Radio Spots, the disc concludes with Image Galleries. This domain splits into six subjects: “Production Stills (111 screens), “Behind the Scenes” (91), “Posters” (24), “Lobby Cards” (18), “Storyboards” (36) and “Shooting Schedule” (14). These add a lot of good material.

Also included in this “Limited Edition”, we get a 60-page booklet, a foldout poster and six postcard-size lobby card reproductions. My review copy of Werewolf came with the disc-only so I can’t directly comment on these features, but I wanted to mention their inclusion.

While it doesn’t match up with classic horror films, An American Werewolf In London still provides a nicely entertaining combination of scares and laughs. The movie combines two genres into a fairly effective package that still works well after more than three decades. The 4K UHD presents dated but generally positive picture and audio along with a bunch of supplements. This ends up as a pretty good release.

To rate this film, visit the DVD review of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main