An American Werewolf In London: Collector's Edition (1981)

Written & Directed by John Landis

Produced by George Folsey Jr.

Starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter, Don McKillop, Paul Kember, John Woodvine, Brian Glover

As with John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982) that followed it, John Landis' "An American Werewolf In London" is one of the few true classics of the horror genre that the eighties blessed us with. Sure, Joe Dante stole some of Landis' thunder with his own delightful, satirical screen adaptation of Gary Brandner's luscious pulp novel "The Howling" the year before, but the beast of Piccadilly Circus went on to amass a loyal fan base while The Colony consolidated a more offbeat cult following. I'd be foolish to deny that I love them both, as they both represent warm memories of my teenage years, but Landis' film definitely takes the headliner at the top of this horror buffs DVD werewolf double-feature. Better still is the fact that it still manages to hold up remarkably well today against other genre films that have frighteningly dated with the passing years.

Inspired during his work on "Kelly's Heroes", John Landis' "American Werewolf" script weaves the tale of best friends David Kessler (Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Dunne), two American students back-packing their way across Europe. Heading for Rome, they decide to hike through the British Isles, eventually finding themselves amidst the Welsh moors. Stopping off in the isolated town of East Proctor, they are greeted with a chilly welcome by the townsfolk and an impending fear for their own safety. Spooked by their rural encounter they become lost on the moors, and victims of a small-town curse. With Jack dead, the unconscious David is transported to London where he is placed under the best of British care. Under the treatment of Dr. Hirsch (Woodvine), and the watchful eye of Nurse Alex Price (Agutter), David rapidly regains his health…but he begins to question his sanity.

His nights are plagued by grotesque nightmares, and his waking hours by visions of the dead Jack, whose unearthly warnings that he has become a werewolf leave him questioning the frailty of his being. Falling for the wayward traveller, Alex offers David bed and breakfast until his feet are back on the ground. The only question that remains is, once the full moon has risen, will that be both feet, or all four?

After the trend-setting "Animal House" (1978) and all-time cult classic "The Blues Brothers" (1980), John Landis is probably the director most horror fans would have least expected deliver a bonafide genre hit. Surprisingly, the interim years have worked with the film, rather than against it. Landis' genre referential script, the ensemble cast, the impressive effects work and engaging characters still make "Werewolf" a winner twenty years on. There is precious little within the film that actually dates it for a modern audience, as the humour is just as fresh, and subversive horror just as urgent, as it first was in '81. Even the "moon" themed pop songs, which had already been relegated to the rock & roll hall of fame, lend a quirky spirit of individuality to Landis' feature. Van Morrison's "Moondance" has never been utilised better, and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" prefigures the encroaching horror with alarming clarity. It is a great pity that Landis was unable to secure rights to Cat Stevens' "Moon Shadow" and Bob Dylan's rendition of "Blue Moon", as both artistes found Landis' script "objectionable" on religious grounds, refusing him permission on grounds that "evil should not be mocked". Yes people, it's a funny old world sometimes…

Rick Baker's effects work has hardly had a candle held to it over the years, outside of Joe Dante's "The Howling" of course, thus it's probably no surprise that there has been nary a werewolf film of its calibre since. And for a director previously noted for his work in the comedy field, Landis shies away from none of the gory incidence messily indicative of the era. Naughton, Dunne and Agutter are all superb, and they are ably backed by a strong cast of supporting players. There's even the odd cameo for keen eyed viewers. Landis effectively utilises his location work, and augments his collective of pop songs with a subtle score by Elmer Bernstein (whose total source material was far too brief at eleven minutes to issue a soundtrack album). Even the ending, which was lambasted in its day as negative an downbeat, succinctly references its inspiration, Curt Siodmak's "The Wolf Man" (1941) screenplay. By transposing its thematic premise into a contemporary setting, "Werewolf" still manages to work its magic even today. For older genre fans, the subtle nuances of Landis' script should unveil new meaning once viewed with wiser eyes and an adult appreciation. Indeed, Landis' film is truly "a different kind of animal", and one that has earned its respect with pride.

Tired of waiting for much postponed & delayed Region 4 disc from Universal, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and stump up for the Region 1 edition. In retrospect, I'm glad I did as not only is the US disc a fine investment, but also a more compact edition than has been proposed for other territories. Rumours persist that "Werewolf's" supplemental materials will be moved to a second disc for territories outside of the US, which is bad news for the hip pocket of many fans. Universal's R1 disc offers everything on a single dual layer disc and the feature is presented nicely in a new widescreen 1.85 anamorphic transfer. There is noticeable film grain apparent in some passages of the film, but this is more attributable to the limitations of the original source than poor mastering. "AWIL" never looked perfect theatrically, but it certainly looks attractive here. On top of an excellent print, Universal offers both DTS 5.1 & Dolby 5.1 audio options. For those concerned that this may replicate the "artificial" sound of the prior laserdisc edition, be assured that Universal have gone back & completed a new remix specifically for this DVD version. It sounds exceptionally good, by the way, creating a very natural sound-stage that would fool most into thinking that the film had been originally recorded in Dolby, not optical monaural, sound.

Extra features kick off with an Audio commentary by David Naughton & Griffin Dunne that, although littered with anecdotes and facts, is not the knees-up-laugh-a-minute memory lane trip that many fans might be expecting. At times, the two actors do indeed seem stuck for words and there's a few jarring dead-spots. Two new interviews with Rick Baker & John Landis complement the film and commentary. These are littered with snippets from the film itself as well as a number of behind the scenes glimpses of test footage that are treat to finally see after all these years. There is also a Making Of featurette, produced for the film's original release and a little worse for wear that is more included for curiosity value than anything else. Supplementals are rounded out by some amusing Outtakes (sans sound), a Storyboard to Film comparison of the Piccadilly Circus sequence, Photo montage (with an excerpt of Bernstein's score), Production Notes text and Cast & Crew filmographies. Oh yeah, there's some short archival footage labelled "Casting of the Hand" of Rick Baker and crew at work, which is nice by its inclusion. I had hoped that the film's most notorious deleted scene would be included (the murders of the three tramps, dropped from the final cut when it proved to disrupt the flow of the film with test audiences), but sadly it is conspicuous by its absence. Maybe this footage has been lost forever…

As a slice of horror history, and one of the best werewolf films committed to the screen, "American Werewolf" is a treat for the long-standing fan, and well represented with Universal's new DVD. Region 1 and international multi-region fans (like myself) can pick up the disc now, while I'd advise those in other territories to sit tight. The DVD edition is a great disc of a great film, and one that I can assure you is well worth the wait. Highly recommended!

International specifications: NTSC format disc; Language options in English DTS 5.1 & Dolby 5.1 only; Subtitle options in English, French & Spanish

Review by Mike Thomason

© 2001, Icon In Black Media