Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

An American Werewolf in London 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 4, 2022

Arrow is offering An American Werewolf in London in 4K UHD in this new release which duplicates the limited edition packaging, supplements, and non-disc swag that were part of An American Werewolf in London. This review repeats relevant portions of my original review.

Having recently returned from a wonderful trip to northern England and Scotland, I can state with some confidence that I encountered virtually no werewolves of any kind — that I remember, anyway. In just one of several kind of cheeky approaches writer-director John Landis takes in An American Werewolf in London, those “quaint” (backlot) locations that were typically either fictional, fictionalized or even unnamed in any number of the vintage Universal horror films are given a relatively more realistic depiction here, with two American hitchhikers, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) supposedly trekking through the North York Moors (actual filming was evidently done in Wales, for what that's worth). Despite the obviously winking subtext of a lot of An American Werewolf in London, there’s an at least somewhat more authentic feeling to the opening scenes of the film, where David and Jack interact with some of the locals before unwisely venturing out into the moors on a night with a full moon, which is when they interact with another “local”, to disastrous effect for both of them. An American Werewolf in London is probably best remembered today for its bracing “combo platter” of comedy and horror, as well as its Academy Award winning makeup effects by Rick Baker (the first ever statuette awarded for such work), and it remains a rather entertaining romp that can simultaneously provoke laughs (or at least titters) along with more shocked responses from what are some pretty graphic depictions of wounds and, later, transformations.

An American Werewolf in London has had a couple of previous releases (along with various special packaging releases like steelbooks) on Blu-ray courtesy of its "home" studio, Universal. For those wanting a complete plot recap, I refer you to my colleague Casey Broadwater's An American Werewolf in London Blu-ray review. A so-called "restored" version was released several years later, and those interested can peruse Martin Liebman's An American Werewolf in London Blu-ray review of that version. Both of these reviews can offer good opportunities for those wanting side by side (by side) screenshot comparisons. I'd note for you folks who keep track of scores that I evidently am a bit more of a fan of the overall film than either Casey or Marty is, and so my score in that regard reflects that opinion.

An American Werewolf in London 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc. Note that this release follows Arrow's somewhat puzzling "tradition" of not including a 1080 disc with their 4K UHD releases.

An American Werewolf in London is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains verbiage that is just slightly different from what I reproduced in the video section of my original An American Werewolf in London Blu-ray review:

An American Werewolf in London is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono and 5.1 sound and has been exclusively restored in 4K by Arrow Films.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16-bit resolution at NBC Universal Post. The film was restored in 4K and graded in HDR10 & Dolby Vision at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The key grading reference was a prior HD master approved by director John Landis.

The mono mix was sourced from the original mono mix reels and remastered at Deluxe Audio. The 5.1 mix was originally created by NBC Universal at Twickenham Film Studios, however the original 5.1 master print mage reels were newly remastered by Arrow Films at Deluxe Audio to correct for a pitch error introduced in the original mix.

Anyone who is still fearful of Universal's once notorious use of digital noise reduction need only pop this 4K UHD disc into their player to be greeted with a clear (actually chunky) disabusing of that notion, since the opening few minutes of this film, and a few interstitial scenes thereafter, have some of the most ungainly yellow grain that I've personally seen in a 4K presentation, to the point that it almost looks like swarms of little yellow birds are flickering across the screen. Of course this is due in part to the opening scenes having optically printed credits, and you'll be able to see some of the same almost comical spikes in grain during a number of optical dissolves (as in the lovemaking montage much later in the film), though I have to say this aspect popped up a couple of times apart from any opticals that I was able to discern. That presentational aspect aside, this 4K version shows some nice upgrades in detail levels, with things like the bristly hair on David's "alter ego" looking really precise and nicely rendered. The gruesome makeup that adorns Griffin Dunne's face, especially the first "vision" in the hospital, is also noticeably more detailed in this version, which may or may not be a good thing, considering some viewers' more squeamish sensibilities. HDR and/or Dolby Vision add a rather interesting slightly darkened burnished look to the palette, which tends to make things like David's bright red jacket look gorgeously suffused, but also perhaps pushed just a bit more toward purplish tones than in the 1080 version. And in fact a number of flesh tones looked just a bit ruddy to me in this 4K presentation.

An American Werewolf in London 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Neither Casey nor Marty was that blown away by the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks on the releases they reviewed, but neither of those releases offered the original mono track from the initial theatrical exhibition, which is included here via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. The mono track is obviously more "confined" sounding than the surround track, but is quite enjoyable on its merits, offering good fidelity and generally smart prioritization. As Casey and Marty noted, the surround track isn't a nonstop array of "showy" effects, but it certainly does engage the side and rear channels with a fair degree of regularity, offering good placement of ambient environmental effects both outdoors (the moors sequence is notable in this regard) but even with regard to some of the urban environments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

An American Werewolf in London 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This 4K UHD release continues Arrow's commendable tradition of porting over all of the supplements from their previous 1080 release, along with the 1080 release's nice packaging and non-disc swag. Therefore, this section will repeat my list from my original 1080 review:

Several of these supplements were included on the previous Universal releases. I've attempted to mark what I think are the new supplements with an asterisk (*) below:

• Audio Commentary by Paul Davis*


• Audio Commentary with Actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne


• Mark of the Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf* (1080p; 1:17:18) is an absolutely wonderful retrospective by Daniel Griffith that revisits some of those very backlot locations I mentioned above while giving a nice history of Universal's history with werewolves.


• An American Filmmaker in London* (1080p; 11:41) is a fun new interview with John Landis, who discusses working in England.


• Wares of the Wolf* (1080p; 7:58) is another new piece featuring SFX Artist Dan Martin discussing things like makeup and special effects, while also looking at costumes and props from the film, with Prop Store's Tim Lawes.


• I Think He's a Jew: The Werewolf's Secret* (1080p; 11:26) is a really engaging video essay by Jon Spira about his perceived subtext of Jewish identity in the film, which is actually something I mentioned to a noted film critic decades ago, who completely pooh-poohed the idea. Way to go, Mr. Spira, it's nice to know there are two of us.


• The Werewolf's Call* (1080p; 11:26) is a dialogue between Corin Hardy and Simon Ward about their histories with the film.


• Beware the Moon (1080i; 1:37:39) is the excellent retrospective by Paul Davis which features numerous cast and crew interviews, and which was previously released on the Universal versions.


• Making An American Werewolf in London (1080p; 4:54) is a short archival piece with some fun footage of Naughton's head mold being formed and Landis' skill (?) as a stuntman.


• An Interview with John Landis (720p; 18:19) is another archival piece.


• Make Up Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London (720p; 11:13) offers Baker's memories of working on the film and at least a few other aspects of his career.


• I Walked With a Werewolf (1080i; 7:30) is a fun archival interview with Rick Baker which gets into Universal's history with wolfman characters.


• Casting of the Hand (1080p; 10:59) is an archival look from October 1980 at more of the casting processes David Naughton underwent to create some of the prosthetics for the film.


• Outtakes (1080p; 3:07) are windowboxed, with timecodes and without a soundtrack.


• Storyboard Featurette (1080p; 2:27) offers two kinda sorta side by side frames, one with storyboards, the other with footage from the film.


• Original Trailers*

  Trailer (1080p; 2:53)

  
  

  Teaser (1080p; 1:01)

  
  

  TV Spot (1080p; 00:31)

• Image Galleries* are authored for Manual Advance, hence no timings:

  Production Stills (1080p)

  
  

  Behind the Scenes (1080p)

  
  

  Posters (1080p)

  
  

  Lobby Cards (1080p)

  
  

  Storyboards (1080p) contains some really interesting introductory (text) comments by artist John Bruno.

  
  

  Shooting Schedule (1080p)

Additionally, this is yet another Arrow release that features some extremely handsome packaging, as well as some non disc "swag". The chipboard slipbox has engaging cover art, and it holds another pamphlet sized booklet with essays and technical data, a folded mini-poster, and the disc keepcase, which itself contains six postcards as well as Arrow's usual larger cardstock promotional insert, which in my set contained the cover artwork (I can't guarantee that all of these cardstock inserts will be uniform, as my experience is the film being advertised on this piece, which advertises "joining the cult" on its obverse side, seems to have been random on previous releases, rarely if ever related directly to the actual disc).

An American Werewolf in London 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

An American Werewolf in London is actually a rather sweet love letter to Universal's heritage with the Wolfman, but it manages to update the basic storyline with some post-modern irony and healthy doses of both humor and gore. This was one of my favorite films the year it came out, and I've continued to admire its rather bracing blend of gross out effects and at times rather trenchant comedy. This 4K UHD presentation may offer a few hurdles in terms of seeing through almost scrim like grain fields on occasion, but it does provide a really deeply burnished palette and some excellent detail levels. Arrow's kind of odd decision not to include their previous 1080 releases with their 4K UHD discs is a bit puzzling, but the label commendably offers fans the excellent supplements and very handsome packaging and non-disc swag of that original 1080 release. Highly recommended.