It's so weird Ryan, I just got the urge to watch this again and that's how I came across your vid, didn't even know you'd done this one. Those northern scenes were filmed in Wales, because it was quicker for production team to get to. I've been to the wales filming locations.
Rick Baker won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup. He’s got 7 now. He apprenticed under Dick Smith and worked on The Exorcist. Freakin’ love Rick Baker.
The attack on the moors was probably the single scene that terrified me most as a child. I first saw An American Werewolf in London, in the middle of the night, by myself, the volume turned really low on the TV so as not to wake my parents, when I was around nine years old. Scarred me good.
I was a kid when this came out and it’s been a favorite ever since. I like how all the music is songs about the moon. John Landis was always unorthodox and great. Cheers!
John Landis, an American, who wrote and directed "An American Werewolf in London", spent some time traveling in England as a young man, so likely drew from his experiences.
I remember seeing this in the cinema when it came out. I was 14 years old, and it was indeed incredible for that time! (And wow, I never realized that was Brick Top as the cab driver!)😀
Brilliant combination of Horror and comedy, written by *John Landis, who also directed *Animal house* and *The Blues brothers* and the amazing Make-up effects done by the legendary *Rick Baker* himself 😎
John Landis loves a gratuitous car smash scene (see The Blues Brothers). That weird character from the Embassy when David wakes up is Frank Oz of Muppet and Star Wars fame. All the songs in the soundtrack had "moon" in the title. One of the guys in the pub was Rik Mayall. Jenny Agutter was my dream woman in this movie and in Logan's Run (1976).
I watched this on vhs countless times when I was a kid growing up in the early 80s. Thanks for the reaction, your background lent a unique and enjoyable perspective to the film.
PS: Landis was coming off having directed "The Blues Brothers", which had lots of car crashes and car stunts. "National Lampoon's Animal House" also had culminated with mass pandemonium and car stunts. So the end of "American Werewolf" is very much him applying one of his trademarks to Piccadilly Circus. The very last thing they shot was the transformation sequence. Maybe he felt that if the transformation sequence and werewolf effects turned out to be a dud, he'd still have a great action sequence with car crashes! (ditto the sex scene. This was low budget, all the money went into the makeup and practical effects. By padding the movie out with stuff like that (and the "Bad Moon Rising" sequence, where he's waiting around), it probably saved them money and time.
That was John Landis, himself, who was smashed through the plate glass window by the car. He used to be a stuntman and his stunt crew dared him to do a stunt. He was also sitting in the back of the double decker bus, with camera rolling behind him, as the stunt driver did his turns and swerves. Of course, the footage wasn't used.
wonderful reaction, love this horror comedy. Practical effects hold up so well and I agree the chaos in the square and the stunts were top notch. I loved how it ended, telling David's story and as soon as his story was done, bam, movie ended. haha :)
Leshire was a made up name by the production designer Les Dilley (who also did Superman and probably Star Wars too). They made the cat hiss by putting another cat in front of him that he didn't like. No animals were harmed. The wolf cage scene was done in one take, the wolves weren't drugged but they told David Naughton - ' its ok theyve eaten' ! I like the sex scene (don't care for them much nowadays) - sex always goes well in horror movies , plus David had a beast in him and its cool and sexy with the Moondance song - its an adult type movie (not porn). Also it helps with the pacing and tension building. Eveytime I watch it I think - maybe they'll stick to the road this time or stay in the Slaughtered Lamb - you care for the characters and the movie remains fresh. Great reaction thankyou. (Edited for spelling)
After seeing this when younger, all those "moon" songs get stuck in the head. Could never hear "Bad Moon Rising" by CCR without saying "I'm sorry I called you a meatloaf Jack..." Yeah. That transformation scene. Holy hell. Oh, plus John Landis himself did one of the stunts in the Piccadilly Circus sequence. He's the gent on the pavement who gets knocked through the plate glass storefront.
I'm from the generation before you who saw this in the theater as a teen. You said that this is something you would have "watched often" but what you need to realize is that when this film came out, there was no way to watch films at home. This was just before home video tape and films for home VHS tapes didn't come out for years after their run in theaters... so all we had was the theater experience, our memories and some images in genre magazines. This was the end of the era of practical effects when they were literally 'movie magic' and people like me spent our time trying to figure out how it was done and inventing special effects for our own Super-8 movies. Years later I worked on a Spielberg production as well as a Jim Henson Studio production. This was one of THOSE FILMS that compelled people like me in those years to dream big and do all sorts of our own magic in our Mom's basements.
I'm three and a half minutes in and this is what I've always wanted; someone from the North to take me through the beginning of the movie! I have a new appreciation for what they got right in this film, just from this video. / Regarding the sex scene, I know what you mean, however I've grown to actually like the sex scene just because it works so well with "Moondance". And since "American Werewolf" definitely has a cinematic, almost art-house approach to horror - which, at the time, had a lot of T&A in it, especially the slasher stuff, it was almost expected - I think the sex scene is actually pretty classy. The other nudity in the movie comes in a comedic form, when they're in the porn theater. Also John Landis had come to prominence directing raunchy comedies, so I think he wanted to do something more elevated and romantic. Starting in the 1960s, directors such as Kubrick, Welles and Huston had considered making a totally artfully-directed, beautifully photographed porn film, or sex scene/movie. With this sequence, Landis is throwing his hat in the ring; that's how I have grown to see that part of the movie. Usually I hate gratuitous sex scenes, and I used to hate that one, but now I just go with it because it's cinematic, and the music is so great. It helps that everyone loves a pretty nurse, I fully admit! Later he has a long sequence of waiting around while "Bad Moon Rising" plays - the movie is very much about enjoying the great rock & roll soundtrack, from the opening credits to the closing credits, every song being about the moon. The sex scene, for me, is in keeping with that. He's an animal, he's part wolf! And he's going to have sex like one! :P
@@alyssaramirez7014 Yes! It was the first day of shooting and the all-English crew almost quit! They thought they had signed up for the wrong movie! :P
@@TTM9691 haha! I can only imagine. I read they cut out a lot of the “sex and violence” scenes to get the R rating in the US. I wonder if they saved them or if they’re gone forever. ?
The Piccadilly Circus scene is pretty iconic and was quite hectic to shoot. So the film crew needed permission to shoot in London early doors, so John Landis went to the Metropolitan Police and showed them The Blues Brothers, a film that notably features done in camera car wrecks and crashes. The police were so impressed that they gave them permission to shoot. They were allowed to stop all the traffic for like 3 minutes very early in the morning for each setup and stunt involving the double decker bus. I think everything else, bodies being hit, cars crashing into each other was actually done on a set, but it looks very neat.
John Landis, an American, who wrote and directed "An American Werewolf in London", spent some time traveling in England as a young man, so likely drew from his experiences.
Love scene? They needed an excuse to show the beautiful Jenny Agutter😁 and the growing love story between David and Alex. My friends and I were all in love with Jenny since seeing her in Logan's Run at the theater as kids.
@@WatchMeMovie I have a special anniversary DVD collection with tons of extras including countless interviews with Landis, Baker and several cast members, along with movie commentary with David Naughton and Griffin Dunne (whose real life kid sister played the oldest daughter in the "Poltergeist" movie and was tragically murdered by her ex boyfriend in real life).
One of my favorite funny scenes is when Jack says 'Hi David' with the Mickey Mouse and David says 'Put that down!' For some reason David's angry reaction to that is really funny to me.
Hey dude you are so super cool I can't believe this a classic horror movie you give a British perspective from London the city that you're familiar with and most of us have never seen are not familiar with wow man great reaction video man I learned a lot but just listening to you and watching you man you're the greatest man look forward to seeing more of your videos your number one man it's funny and entertaining as hell thanks again
In modern times, a sex scene probably can be a waste of time in a movie, but when "An American Werewolf in London" was made, pornography wasn't as accessable as now, so a sex scene was part of the draw. Especially with Jenny Agutter!
🎭You can view Landis' take on this genre as an homage to the 40's & 50's campy, tongue-in-cheek, Werewolf, Dracula & Frankenstein B-(sometimes C) movies of our time. I'm 57 and this was just an updated version of what we grew up with. So, in terms of those sentiments, he fuckin' nailed it! My gen just loved that crap and our parents, for the life of them, just couldn't understand why we did! 🎭It has a black-comedy aspect about it. So dark and serious that it has to be treated with ridicule or you couldn't sell it pass the mind of a child. From that description you can see why the birth of black-comedy came from war films (M*A*S*H, Dr.Strangelove, Catch-22). That kind of man made violence was/is just ridiculous. 🎭Your reaction was suprisingly refreshing. Most people from this gen find it hard to follow and even harder to know how they "feel" about what they saw. Lets just called it ...emotional ambiguity.😏 You didn't think much, took it for what it was worth, all the while your face glowed with a sort of 80's nostalgia at how your country look back then. 🎭The most priceless part of your reaction was the "wrap up". You were already going along with the story and then Landis just had to kicked it up a notch!🤣 To see the twisted, hilariously enjoyable look of shock and awe in your face at seeing the WW burst through the metal gate, only to bite the head off the detective, that proceeded to comically bounce & roll off the car. And then the kicker, ...the random, unexpectedly violent chain of car crashes and mangling of bodies. You lit up with the glee of a X'mas story and I - loved - every - minute - of -it!!!🤣😋🤗🤭 👻💀Thank U👹👺
First man to pronounce werewolf right. Thanks! And you're right the sfx are much better than cgi. Still looks good. Could of course be better - but film should start with this sfx and then "touch up" with cgi...
haha I was conscious of the way I pronounced it so nice one for that! and yeah I agree, subtle cgi touch ups can make a nice difference when used right in addition to sfx.
I noticed two very minor continuity errors (zoo; gorilla with the blue barrel behind the boy, then both 🦍 and barrel were gone after cut away, Dr. Hirsch at the "Slaughtered Lamb"; his glass of Guinness was down half, then when he lifts it to his mouth it's nearly full), but I don't see Landis as a director who sweats the small stuff. ~~ I was 20 when it was released in 1981 and if you think it's a little bizarre now, you should have seen it back then at the cinema. No one had seen anything like it and no one knew how to react.
Ha wow thats a sharp eye, do you work as a script surpervisor? Really enjoyed all your comments, cheers for the pieces of information I love that kind of stuff
@@WatchMeMovie Lol. Appreciate the compliment. No. I'm an aspiring (upper age) fiction and FAN FICTION author. I believe my peripheral vision caught the visual anomalies in those particular scenes. They just jumped out at me, as it were.
@@danielhaynes2373 Nice! Always interested to see what people who watch my videos do for a profession. Best of luck with your writing mate, keep writing scripts aswell! Cheers!
@@WatchMeMovie Many thanks. For now, security guard work pays the bills. Too old for a THIRD Army enlistment. First non FAN FICTION manuscript is with my publisher. For FAN FICTION, I crossed two old TV series WEREWOLF (FOX Network, 1987-88) and FOREVER KNIGHT (CBS/USA Networks 1992-95) a thusfar two-book series that has garnered TWO magazine articles in VENTS Magazine (online). Unfortunately, SONY owns the copyrights to BOTH series and has forbidden future publication of their properties. Anyway, thanks again, mate! Cheers from your American cousin from across the pond. 🍻
19:19 "If I would have seen that as a kid..." Hello. Totally seen this as a kid. Alone. Late Late Movie on Cable in the basement. 😩😱😫😩😱 Wolves howl at my folks property at night. I don't go out in the yard. Ever, when I'm there visiting. I am in my 50's. So yes, this movie scared me for life!
One of my all time favourite films! Seen it dozens of times. I don't like hearing my home accent in films 🙉 Interesting to hear you pronounce moors as mores; I pronounce it mooers!
haha yeah , even some people in my family would pronounce it that way. I have possibly modified the proper yorkshireness out of certain words in my accent
Strange. As I'm watching this reaction there is an ad for Dr. Pepper down below..David (Idk the actor's name), before this movie was made was known for being the Dr. Pepper guy here in the States..As far as I know it was the thing that got him the part in this movie..Not sure what else he's done since...I'm sure someone will inform me.
it is actually the same (or one of them) first unique made steadycam (invented by director of photography John Alcott) which was first used for the filming of Stanley Kubrick's ''The Shining''
I imagine the discussion went something like this. Producer: John, I'm reading your A Werewolf in London script, and there's something that bothers me. How could they possibly get all of those warnings and still NOT stay on the road? John Landis: Hmm.. What if we make them young Americans? An American Werewolf in London. Producer: OK, that makes sense then...
I was 24 and married when this came out, and remember enjoying it a lot..To me it was more fun, than it was scary..Can't go wrong with Rick Baker as your make-up man...Good stuff...Can I suggest a really good film.."Wait Until Dark."..Really good movie, that goes back to the mid 60's..but I'm certain it holds up...Just a thumbnail; it's a thriller about a blind girl (Audrey Hepburn) alone in an apartment..That's all I'll give you..Wouldn't want to spoil it...Sorry, just remembered another that I can't believe is not shown during Halloween..You can still squeeze it into the season, I believe.."Creepshow."..I REALLY think you'd enjoy it!
Hi Ryan. Really enjoyed watching this with you. I loved the makeup effects. Good wolf transformation. Can I recommend the best vampire movie I've ever seen.? It's called 30 Days of Night. Just WOW...
Hi Trudy, thank you for the suggestion. I thought I had seen it but just watched a trailer and dont recognise any of it so will put it on the polls next time I do a horror. Cheers!
did you know that a lot of people have mistaken a werewolf for a lycan cause they think that they are both the same thing but they aren't though both have wolf like features and equal in strength the Lycan can control their transformation while the werewolf can not control its transformation also the lycan is believed to be religious while the werewolf is consider evil and has been believed to have come from witchcraft for centuries the lycans and vampires have been at war vampires had used lycans as their slaves but they have escaped them and have been hunted down by vampires
For some reason in almost every horror film there's gotta be sex scenes. In Westerns there rarely ever is a single sex scene. Interesting how that works. It's great the way this film shows how on some level you'd still remember attacking those people. That seems more realistic than totally blacking out once you've turned and not remembering the lives you took. I don't know if you're ever heard of the dogman but there's a lot of supposed sighting, like with bigfoot, of these werewolf type creatures. Sightings from the U.S. and even the UK. One interesting feature they describe is that when they see this giant wolf standing up they hear these loud pops like bone on bone as it's back legs straighten. A lot of scary and very entertaining stories about it. Who knows what's out there..although I imagine the UK is pretty well mapped out at this point. Hard to imagine all these myths and legends come from simply scary stories to keep children from staying out too late or wandering too far or being naughty.
1. Jenny Agutter played Jessica in Logan's Run. That would be a great firs time/share. HINT HINT 2. "A naked American man stole my balloons".🤣 3. All of the songs played have something about the moon. 4. Those towns people gather together at that pub for protection when the moon is full. 5. Too bad you skipped the conversations with how David could kill himself. Classic. 6. It makes you wonder what the speed limit was in Piccadilly Circus. 7. He had to die and he knew it.😭 8. Don't waste your time and ours with "American Werewolf in Paris". It sucks.
I completely agree about sex scenes. When they don't move the story forward or add to the film, they are filler for people too squeamish to watch porn. Some add to the story telling, but most are cheap gimmicks to get a specific rating.
Gotta disagree. It works in this movie and is part of the story. It establishes the budding romance. After all have you never fallen in love? Have you forgotten the infatuation of new love when you and your partner can't keep your hands off of each other. Human beings are sexual creatures and romantic love without sex is as realistic as a plastic hamburger.
If you want to see a crazy old horror movie you should react to Andrzej Zulawski's Possession also from 1981, the film making is very different and experimental for the time.
Some strange names in Lancashire as well but I think Yorkshire comes out tops in the strange names comp. Forgot 'Brian Glover ' was in this...So funny in "Kes" (sad but funny) Quite Corny in parts this one, its not aged well.
I think this was the first movie National Lampoon made after, Animal House, but I'm no film scholar. In my experience, they're typically known for an unsavory mix of puerile interests and mature subjects, told in humorous, but generally lowbrow ways. The gratuitous sex scene was right on-brand for them. And then the Oscar-winning effects, but no other nominations for any of the rest of the film, seems similarly off-kilter for National Lampoon's brand.
Hey Donald, thanks for the suggestions , I have seen them all before though. The reaction to Forrest Gump is up on the channel but the rest I saw years ago
Agree with you the sex scene... not needed and totally awkward! But as Calvin Harris said, It was Acceptable in the 80's 😂 😂 Saw this when it was released at the Odeon in Liverpool, and even though I love the film, that scene was a complete cringe fest
Actually it was an establishing scene. It establishes the budding love between the two. Have you never fallen in love? Do you not remember the infatuation when you and your partner couldn't keep your hands off each other? Romantic love without sex is like using a hockey puck as a stand in for a Hamburger.
Got to disagree with you on the sex scene(and sex scenes in general). Human beings are sexual creatures and it's a budding love. Have you never been just fallen into love where you are both infatuated and every movement, every expression of your partner is both a temptation and invitation? How can you portray new love by glossing over the sensual? That is just a denial of human nature and art is meant to be a reflection of humanity not a denial of it.
