{"id":19359,"date":"2019-10-28T13:07:12","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T20:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19359"},"modified":"2019-10-28T13:07:12","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T20:07:12","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-an-american-werewolf-in-london-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19359","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition \u2013 Special Edition\u201d Blu-ray release\nfrom Arrow Video will be available for purchase (www.arrowvideo.com \u2013 www.facebook.com\/ArrowVideo\/)\non October 29th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Simply put, An American Werewolf in London<\/em> belongs in\nthe pantheon of modern horror classics. Over the years, many filmmakers have\nattempted to update and reinvent genre icons like Dracula for modern audiences.\nHowever, few have succeeded so effectively as this new take on The Wolf Man<\/em>\nfrom writer\/director John Landis (Animal House<\/em>, The Blues Brothers<\/em>,\nTrading Places<\/em>, Coming to America<\/em>, Innocent Blood<\/em> and many\nothers). All the themes of the original film are still present, but this\nversion was spun in ways that were truly new and exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve owned the picture on various formats over the years,\nfrom VHS to several different DVDs and Blu-rays. However, the latest release\nfrom Arrow Video is far by far the best presentation and package of the film\never released. Boasting a 2018 4K transfer supervised by Landis himself, the\npicture looks crisper than ever before (and likely even more impressive than it\nwould have appeared on cinema screens almost 40 years ago). It also comes with\na wealth of bonuses including all of the previously released special add-ons as\nwell as new features than add even more insight to the finished film. This\nrelease couldn\u2019t be more highly recommended and makes for perfect Halloween\nviewing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who have never seen it, the story follows David\n(David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) two friends backpacking through\nNorthern England. When they find themselves near a moor, they briefly take\nrefuge in a pub and note some strange markings on the wall. Fearful, the pals\nleave the intimidating locale and are attacked. David awakens in a London\nhospital to learn that Jack is dead. He also begins having harrowing and\nviolent visions. One of the most disturbing is that of his undead pal, telling\nhim that they were attacked by a werewolf and that he is now cursed to follow\nsuit. Sympathetic nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter) attempts to help David deal\nwith his unusual situation, but as the next full moon approaches, the\nprotagonist begins to fear that he may well turn into a monster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie certainly has its jarring and disturbing sections\nduring the wolf attacks and through the surprising and unsettling visions David\nexperiences (which often occur when viewers are least expecting it). Of course,\nthe film is most noted for an incredible transformation sequence. Unlike\nprevious movies which used lap dissolves to show a man getting hairy (and vice versa),\nthis film decided to make the wolf itself more animalistic. Shot in a bright\nroom, viewers see the entire process of a man painfully changing into a\nwerewolf and see all of the agony as parts of his body twist as he morphs into the\ncreature. The effects work by Rick Baker was and remains so striking that the\nAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences created a Best Make-Up Effects\ncategory to reward the stunning scene \u2013 since that time, the category has been\nrenamed Best Make-up and Hairstyling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yet, the make-up is a highlight, but no less impressive are\nthe performances. David and Jack are very likable leads and make a great\nonscreen pairing, sharing naturalistic conversations (or as natural as they can\npossibly be given the circumstances) that sound authentic and funny. In fact,\nall of the characters are memorable and make an impression, from the hero to the\nbumbling police inspectors assigned to investigate the killings late in the\nfilm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This film is also unique in that infuses a consistent sense\nof humor throughout. Often, the characters refer to how bizarre and surreal the\nsituation they find themselves in truly is, and much humor is derived from their\nhonest reactions to surreal events. Not only is it amusing, but it actually\nadds a layer of relatability to the proceedings. Remarkably, this approach was\nbrand new at the time and was even considered confusing to some critics and\naudiences, who had difficulty distinguishing if they should be fearful or\nlaughing at the pointed remarks. Of course, the answer to the question is a\nresounding yes to both responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, as the years have passed, An American Werewolf\nin London<\/em> has become respected as one of the best films of the genre and\nhas lost none of its charm or effectiveness. It\u2019s still chilling when it wants\nto be, tragic when dealing with the characters and their suffering, and sharply\nwritten. The new Blu-ray really does the movie a service. As mentioned, the\nmovie has never looked this good before, with various locales like the Slaughtered\nLamb pub, London tube and Piccadilly Circus appearing sharper and more striking\nthan ever before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The extras are incredible too. If you\u2019ve never seen the\nprevious trove of special features from older releases before, you will find\nthem here and they\u2019re all impressive. There\u2019s a detailed, feature length\ndocumentary on the production in which you\u2019ll learn that Landis wrote the\nscript as a teenager in 1968 and had spent the next decade plus trying to get\nit produced \u2013 he explains that he was constantly turned down and told his\nscript was too schizophrenic in tone. Only after directing two big hits was the\nfilmmaker able to raise financing and start shooting in London. Since he was\nlargely involved in raising the funds, he also made a lot of decisions involving\nshooting the film on a limited budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This included saving the big transformation to the end of\nthe shoot and wrapping most of the cast and crew. They then filmed shots for the\nbig sequence in reverse to make it easier on the actors and effects team by\nremoving hair and appliances as they filmed (instead of adding prosthetics as\nthey progressed). He also talks about casting and how important it was to cast sympathetic\nlooking actors in the leads. Performers Naughton and Dunne lend a commentary track\nas well as interviews describing their experiences and the difficulties of\nworking with make-up prosthetics. You\u2019ll also get an interview with effects man\nRick Baker, the original video press kit for the movie and loads of publicity materials\nlike trailers and outtakes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s just as many new bonuses. There\u2019s a new feature-length\ndocumentary featuring Landis, make-up effects experts and other horror authorities\non the history of the werewolf and how this film plays with and manages to both\ncontinue and slightly rework the themes. It provides great insight into how the\nwerewolf myth and legend came into being. Curiously, despite a notable,\nwell-regarded fictional novel about the subject being written and released a\nyear before Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/em>, this character didn\u2019t make as much of\nimpact initially on popular culture. The doc goes into Universal\u2019s first pitches\nfor a wolfman movie and how the concept was changed and altered. The doc also shows\nother notable pictures featuring werewolves before the 1941 classic The Wolf\nMan was produced, and notes how this particular picture established the character\nlore and rules. And of course, they go through the Hammer iteration, Curse\nof the Werewolf<\/em>, in addition to other films that led to American\nWerewolf<\/em>. This feature is a real informative and fun piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/director John Landis also provides a new interview in\nwhich he talks further about his inspiration and what is was like working and shooting\nthe film in the UK. There\u2019s another bit that goes into the dream sequences and the\npersonal fears that inspired those horrific bits, as well as a brand new\nsegment on the groundbreaking visual effects. There\u2019s also a film historian commentary\nthat gives other production insights and a clip featuring other moviemakers\ntalking about the influence this picture had on them. And there\u2019s even more\n(including an impressive book with essays about the picture and the original\nreaction to it upon its release) meat to chew on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An American Werewolf in London<\/em> is an amazing horror picture,\nand this new Blu-ray from Arrow Video is equally incredible, presenting the\nfilm to viewers in its most pristine form and providing more extras than have ever\nbeen available before. This disc gets my highest recommendation\u2026 and any\nself-respecting horror fan should pick it up.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition \u2013 Special Edition\u201d Blu-ray release from Arrow Video will be available for purchase (www.arrowvideo.com \u2013 www.facebook.com\/ArrowVideo\/) on October 29th. Simply put, An American Werewolf in London belongs in the pantheon of modern horror classics. Over the years, many filmmakers have attempted to update and reinvent genre icons like Dracula for modern audiences. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[113,1313,1314,1836,2923,3073,4660,5327,8664,9319,10592,10874,14197,17023],"class_list":["post-19359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-113","tag-an-american-werewolf-in-london","tag-an-american-werewolf-in-london-blu-ray-review","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-comedy","tag-david-naughton","tag-griffin-dunne","tag-horror","tag-jenny-agutter","tag-john-landis","tag-monster-movie","tag-rick-baker"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}