| | | "HD-DVD, The Look & Sound of Perfect."
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Dolby, Digital Audio
It's a rainy night on the Welsh moors. Two American students on a walking tour of Europe trudge on to the next town, when suddenly the air is pierced by an unearthly howl...Three weeks later, one is dead, the other is in the hospital, and the nightmare begins for An American Werewolf in London. David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter star in this contemporary story of the macabre that takes you from the Welsh moors to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the grounds of Windsor Castle. This classic was written and directed by John Landis, the man who brought you National Lampoon's' Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Innocent Blood and Coming to America. Adding to the chill is art direction by Academy Award winner Les Dilley of Star Wars and Alien fame and special makeup effects by six-time Academy Award winner Rick Baker, whose work includes Star Wars, The Nutty Professor, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Men in Black.
"Dynamite direction and script..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"...engaging...This is state-of-the art stuff..." NewsWeek
"Strange, darkly humorous...seat-jumping horror and gore." VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
Editor's Note
In John Landis' (THE BLUES BROTHERS, ANIMAL HOUSE) dripping black comedy, two American students (David Naughton and Griffin Dunne) on a European vacation wander into a creepy local pub in Northern England and are quickly thrown out. Stranded and alone in the dark countryside, the pair get lost in their search for warm lodging. Little do they know that they are about to be changed forever by an ancient terror as they walk along the moors on a moonlit night. Only one of the students survives a deadly attack by a supernatural beast--at least he thinks he survived, until the next full moon rolls around. Terrific makeup effects (by Oscar winner Rick Baker), clever editing, and raunchy tongue-in-cheek humor made this suspenseful and thrilling horror effort an instant classic.
Plot Summary
In this grisly black comedy, David Kessler and Jack Goodman (David Naughton and Griffin Dunne, respectively) are two American students on a backpacking tour of Europe. Wandering the backroads of gloomy East Proctor, England, they find a pub where the unhelpful locals act suspiciously strange. The unsuspecting boys flee the pub in search of lodging after being warned to avoid the moors. Lost in the dark countryside, the pair is attacked by a werewolf. Only David survives, waking up three weeks later in a London hospital. As David begins to regain his memory he is tormented by nightmares and is visited by his dead friend Jack, who warns David that he will turn into a werewolf with the next full moon--and that the only way to lift the curse is to kill himself. Because the town of East Proctor has covered up the real cause of the murder, David is forced to face the truth alone. Finally, he is discharged and taken in by his nubile nurse, Alex Price (Jenny Agutter). As Alex and David begin their steamy love affair, it is only a matter of time before the next full moon comes--when the truth will be revealed. Director John Landis has crafted an entertaining, funny horror story, featuring the terrific combination of Naughton and Dunne and a sparkling rock score in which every song includes the word "moon.".
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround | | Feature Audio Commentary With Cast Members David Naughton & Griffin Dunne | | HD-DVD & DVD Combo! Both Standard & HD-DVD Versions On One Disc | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 11/28/2006 |
| Running Time: 98 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1981 | | Catalog ID: 31289 | | UPC: 00025193128928 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen/Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (1982) | | | Oscar, Rick Baker, Best Makeup |
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| | Professional Reviews | Variety
"...A clever mixture of comedy and horror....Redolent with sharp dialog and offbeat humor..." 08/19/1981New York Times
"...Landis is...serious about making this a horror film that packs a wallop..." 08/12/1981 p.C12 Entertainment Weekly
"John Landis' giddy, gory 1981 horror comedy remains the lycanthropic gold standard." -- Grade: A- 09/11/2009 ReelViews 8 of 10
Although the 1980s were not kind to most traditional monsters - vampires, mummies, gargoyles, and the like - the first two years of the decade offered three prominent werewolf movies. The first to reach the screen was Joe Dante's The Howling, which entered theaters in late 1980. That was followed by Wolfen, an unremarkable tale starring Albert Finney. Finally, late in the summer of 1981 came John Landis' An American Werewolf in London, which has, in many ways, set the standard for the modern werewolf movie. In the 20 years since its first release, it has not been surpassed (not even by the Mike Nichols/Jack Nicholson collaboration, Wolf). - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 10 of 10
There are two camps of movie cultists: those who claim The Howling is the best werewolf movie yet, and those who favor An American Werewolf in London. While Joe Dante's 1980 Howling was replete with references to lycanthropes of the past - and indeed to B-cinema of all species - and boasted a sharp script by John Sayles, those who prefer John Landis' Werewolf do so often because of the film's more purist approach to the material...After establishing himself as a cinematic wunderkind of the late 1970s with blockbusters Animal House and The Blues Brothers, Landis finally had the clout he needed to bring to the screen a script he had written as a teenager...American Werewolf more or less shut the door on le cinema lycanthrope for years to come. - Jeffrey Wachs
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