An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

Director:

John Landis

Writer:

John Landis

Stars:

David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joe Belcher	...	Truck Driver
David Naughton	...	David Kessler
Griffin Dunne	...	Jack Goodman
David Schofield	...	Dart Player
Brian Glover	...	Chess Player
Lila Kaye	...	Barmaid
Rik Mayall	...	2nd Chess Player
Sean Baker	...	2nd Dart Player
Paddy Ryan	...	First Werewolf
Jenny Agutter	...	Nurse Alex Price
Anne-Marie Davies	...	Nurse Susan Gallagher
John Woodvine	...	Dr. J. S. Hirsch
Frank Oz	...	Mr. Collins / Miss Piggy
Don McKillop	...	Inspector Villiers
Paul Kember	...	Sergeant McManus

Storyline

Two American college students are on a walking tour of Britain and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The werewolf is killed but reverts to its human form, and the local townspeople are unwilling to acknowledge its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet at first but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he commit suicide to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural deaths.

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Plot Keywords:

werewolf | american | death | nightmare | curse | 

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Taglines:

Twenty years later, the Moon rises again... [20th anniversary re-issue]

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Werewolf

Filming Locations:

Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Lyncanthrope Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 92 min (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS (re-release) Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Landis: [See You Next Wednesday] the title of the film playing in the porn theater.

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Goofs

Amount of Guinness in Dr. Hirsch's cup at the pub.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Truck Driver: That way is Proctor, and over here is the moors. I go this way.
Jack: Thanks for the ride, sir. You have lovely sheep.
Truck Driver: Boys, keep off the moors, stick to the roads. The best to ya...
David: Thanks again.
[then to the sheep]
David: We'll miss you.
David: Bye girls...

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Crazy Credits

All characters and events in this film are fictitious. Any similarity to actual events or persons, living, dead, or undead, is purely coincidental.

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Connections

Referenced in Scream 4 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Rebel
(uncredited)
Music by Francis Monkman
Bruton Music Ltd

User Reviews

Still Funny & Frightening After All These Years

Here's a film that never fails to entertain, year after year. It's almost a quarter of a century old but hasn't become dated and the special effects, which were astounding in its day, are still good. Director John Landis is so good at making entertaining movies. This is one of his best.

The appeal to this film is the combination of horror, suspense, action and humor. The latter actually is the key ingredient because this can become a downright scary movie. The levity here and there is welcome relief. There is just the right amount of contrast between horror and comedy.

For parents wanting to know, there also is a fair amount of rough language and there two sex scenes, one as part of the story and one "on screen" in a porn- movie theater where the two male leads meet late in the story.

Jenny Agutter is the love interest in here, a very pretty woman whom Americans audiences aren't that familiar with. It isn't just her: neither of the two leading (American) male actors in this popular movie ever became stars, either.

An entertaining but silly sequel came out almost two decades later, "An American Werewolf in Paris." I own both movies but much prefer this one.