Universal Re-Releasing An American Werewolf In London

[Ian Jane]

Arrow reissue coming in October.



One of the greatest directors of the 1980s, John Landis (The Blues Brothers, Trading Places), expertly combines macabre horror with dark humour in the lycanthropic classic, An American Werewolf in London.

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...

An American Werewolf in London had audiences howling with laughter and recoiling in terror upon its cinema release. Landis' film has gone on to become one of the most important horror films of its decade, rightly lauded for its masterful set-pieces, uniquely unsettling atmosphere and Rick Bakers' truly ground-breaking, Oscar-winning special makeup effects. Now restored in 4K, and presented with an abundance of extra features, this big beast of horror can be devoured as never before...

Production Year: 1981
Region Code: B
UK Rating: 15
Running Time: 97 mins
Number of Discs: 1
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: 1.0 / 5.1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Colour: Colour

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

New 2018 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 his time working in Britain and British cinema
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
Reversible sleeve featuring original poster art and artwork by Graham Humphreys
Double-sided fold-out poster
Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
Limited 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Travis Crawford and Simon Ward, archival articles and original reviews

[Anthony A]

It started when someone mentioned that DNR had been heavily applied, then all the world went mad and imploded. Seriously though, the fact that DNR was mentioned sent all the forums and facebook groups into armchair expert mode and it spread. I bet about 90% haven't even seen the blu-ray or even screencaps. Most people who own it or really happy.

I believe you hit the nail on the head!

I really don't think it could look any better! Amazing movie and amazing transfer!

Anthony

[Mark Tolch]

It seems like the extra resolution of the 6K scan can withstand DNR and retain more detail than historically possible.
Did they ruin it? No. But I bet it could be better.
I don't like this new approach and am not looking forward to seeing more of it.

Why not do a 6K scan and leave the DNR out of the mix?
Seems technology gives studios license to re invent the wheel.

This is what I was thinking as well. It's a 6K scan, so even with moderately applied DNR, it's going to smoke the other version. The caps at capsoholic show that DNR has obviously been applied, but not to any detriment...when compared to the original. But, what would it look like it they hadn't applied it? I guess we won't know.

[Mark Tolch]

That happens a fair bit, haha.

[Lalala76]

I don't understand all the bad reviews... the new release looks amazing to me!

Anthony

It started when someone mentioned that DNR had been heavily applied, then all the world went mad and imploded. Seriously though, the fact that DNR was mentioned sent all the forums and facebook groups into armchair expert mode and it spread. I bet about 90% haven't even seen the blu-ray or even screencaps. Most people who own it or really happy.

[Anthony A]

I don't understand all the bad reviews... the new release looks amazing to me!

Anthony

[John Bernhard]

It seems like the extra resolution of the 6K scan can withstand DNR and retain more detail than historically possible.
Did they ruin it? No. But I bet it could be better.
I don't like this new approach and am not looking forward to seeing more of it.

Why not do a 6K scan and leave the DNR out of the mix?
Seems technology gives studios license to re invent the wheel.

[ChicGandil]

Not an expert in these things, but I felt the same way. A fine and even (but not excessive) amount of grain and texture present throughout much of it (with the possible exception of the opening credits). Best I've seen it look on home video. Not even really that obvious to me that DNR was applied throughout most of the running time.

[Lalala76]

So I watched the new restored edition last night. My opinion is that those reports that this is one dnr-ed disaster (with the emphasis on disaster) are grossly exaggerated. Yes its obvious that dnr has been applied and perhaps overly so. However at not one point did I think that this looked like a disaster. I fact to my eye this is the best the film has ever looked. We all agree that grain is good, that's a given but seriously the level of detail compared to previous editions makes it worthwhile. I also didn't find it overly smeary like some speculation suggests.

[Derrick King]

It is so frustrating. A couple years back, at the Home Theater Forum, Robert Harris said that a new regime was in at Universal and that these DNR fuck ups were going to be a thing of the past. And until this, it looked like he was right.

[King-Wasp]

What the hell is wrong with those idiots at Universal? Spend all the money and time on a 6K scan of the negative and then blast it with DNR. Awful.

[Smegma]

Motherfu...

[Mark Tolch]

Glad I can save my cash on this one!

[Derrick King]

What the hell is wrong with those idiots at Universal? Spend all the money and time on a 6K scan of the negative and then blast it with DNR. Awful.

[IanIcon]

Looks like this one got blasted with some pretty heavy DNR.

http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=8867&d2=8866&c=3576

What a shame. Preorder cancelled. I'll stick to the earlier release, as imperfect as it may be.