Back in January this year I brought you the news of some amazing releases coming from Arrow Video and one of the releases was An American Werewolf in London Limited Edition Steelbook, so I rushed over to Zavvi and pre-order my exclusive copy and then completely forgot about it, as you do over time.
Then the other morning a package dropped through the letterbox and it was my Blu-ray that I had ordered, suffice to say I was very excited to get hold of the Limited Edition release that sold out pretty damn quick when it went up for pre-order on the Zavvi website. But never fear a standard edition blu-ray is still available.
American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are savaged by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David awakes in a London hospital to find his friend dead and his life in disarray. Retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse (Jenny Agutter, Walkabout) to recuperate, he soon experiences disturbing changes to his mind and body, undergoing a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital…
Before I go on about the release and the film on Blu-ray I thought I would take you back a few years to when I first laid my eyes on this classic werewolf horror film. I was in my teens when I first discovered An American Werewolf in London with viewing on a rather worn-out VHS, not being big into the horror genre at the time I was intrigued by a modern-day werewolf movie as I did love the classic black and white movies from the early Hammer Horror days and boy was I in for a ride.
The film was one that I found a love for after first seeing it, even though there were a couple of scenes that scared the living daylights out of me when I first saw it, you know the one I’m talking about the scene with the Nazi Zombies. But overall the film was one that had me glued from the start it still has that same effect on me today, with its mix of horror and comedy An Americal Werewolf in London has a bit of everything that makes it a great film and one that even in today’s CGI visual effects still looks amazing with the Rick Baker effects, let’s face it this movie probably still has one of the best transformations without the use of CGI.
So on to the Blu-ray, this edition of the film is the new 2019 4K restoration from the original negative and it certainly looks good on a big screen, yes there are those moments when there is some visible grain but with most films made on film and brought to a high definition you get this, the same happened in the 4K release of Gremlins, but what makes this release great is we get the choice of two soundtracks, the original 1.0 mono track that we would have heard in the cinemas back in the 80s and a rather delicious 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack that really adds more beef to the sound of the film.
Right from the opening credits you can hear that difference in the tone of the soundtrack on the 5.1 mix, not only that we get more depth from the sound with the use of all the speakers in many scenes that put us in the middle of what is happening, OK this is probably something that many of are all used to hearing these days during a movie, but if you’ve only ever seen a film in a mono mix, watching it in a 5.1 is an audio sensation.
The Steelbook itself is stunning with some amazing artwork adorning it that was newly produced artwork by Gary Pullin, along with this there is a very interesting booklet featuring writing by Craig Ian Mann and Simon Ward which brings us more about behind the scenes and the history of this classic 80s horror film.
If you are a fan of An American Werewolf in London and you don’t have it on Blu-ray yet then this release is certainly worth getting your hands on, the Zavvi exclusive Limited Edition that I luckily managed to get my hands on sold out pretty damn quick but I do believe that you may get your hands on one if you check the Zavvi site for them.
As I mentioned earlier this new release of the classic horror that features Rick Bakers’ ground-breaking, Oscar-winning special makeup effects is now restored in 4K and presented with an abundance of extra features which there are so many, so take a deep breath here we go…
Contents:
- New 2019 4K restoration from the original camera negative supervised by John Landis
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- New audio commentary by Beware the Moon filmmaker Paul Davis
- Audio commentary by actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne
- Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf, newly produced, feature-length documentary by filmmaker Daniel Griffith, featuring interviews with John Landis, David Naughton, Joe Dante and more
- An American Filmmaker in London, a newly filmed interview with John Landis in which he reflects on British cinema and his time working in Britain
- I Think He’s a Jew: The Werewolf’s Secret, new video essay by filmmaker Jon Spira (Elstree 1976) about how Landis’ film explores Jewish identity
- The Werewolf’s Call, Corin Hardy, director of The Nun, chats with writer Simon Ward about their formative experiences with Landis’ film.
- Wares of the Wolf, new featurette in which SFX artist Dan Martin and Tim Lawes of The Prop Store look at some of the original costumes and special effects artefacts from the film
- Beware the Moon, Paul Davis’ acclaimed, feature-length exploration of Landis’ film which boasts extensive cast and crew interviews
- Making An American Werewolf in London, a short archival featurette on the film’s production
- An Interview with John Landis, a lengthy archival interview with the director about the film
- Makeup Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London, the legendary make-up artist discusses his work on the film
- I Walked with a Werewolf, an archival interview with the make-up artist about Universal horror and its legacy of Wolfman films
- Casting of the Hand, archival footage from Rick Baker’s workshop as they cast David Naughton’s hand
- Outtakes
- Original trailers, teasers and radio spots
- Extensive image gallery featuring over 200 stills, posters and other ephemera
- Limited edition Steelbook featuring newly produced artwork by Gary Pullin
- Limited Edition Booklet featuring writing by Craig Ian Mann and Simon Ward.
Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors.
Movie title: An American Werewolf in London (Limited Edition Steelbook)
Movie description: Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Date published: March 29, 2021
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 37min
Director(s): John Landis
Actor(s): David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Summary
An American Werewolf in London is one of the all-time classic 80s horror movies and this Limited Edition Steelbook release is certainly one that any horror fan should have in their collection.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
