Yesterday afternoon John Landis fans were treated to a newly restored version of An American Werewolf In London, preceded by Brit Paul Davis' new making-of documentary Beware The Moon: Remembering An American Werewolf In London. Landis was around for the afternoon, excitable, outspoken, enthusiastic and a little bit rude, as if you'd expect anything less. Davis' doc takes a fairly typical and conservative approach, with a mixture of present day visits to the locations used in the film (The Slaughtered Lamb, the Welsh hillside etc.) and talking head interviews with a multitude of the stars and crew. Whilst inevitably some of the material touches on ground familiar from the DVD releases, there are some new nuggets of info and some more candid than usual revelations. In particular Davis has done a commendable job in bringing together such a huge breadth of the talent involved. One realises this is fandom in the extreme when we get an interview with “2nd man in bus queue”. Attention to detail is where this doc is at. So too when you get a thorough account of how Brenda Cavendish (aka Harry's ill-fated fiancée Judith) couldn't stop shivering before being ripped to shreds, you know they've done their homework.
Griffin Dunne gives a wonderfully droll account of how he rather (over) enthusiastically pulled at the prop wolf's head in the moor attack scene. There's some previously unseen test footage and copious coverage of Baker's effects work that sheds some further light on just how resourceful the whole team were. Legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong and production manager Joyce Herlihy explain how they completed and cleared away the entire Piccadilly Circus stunt in just two and a half minutes, a time even the police were impressed with. And it goes on. The weaker points are mostly when Davis himself talks to the camera, not a natural presenter by any stretch. Beware The Moon is an entertaining and lively journey back and if you love the movie, you'll lap this up... so to speak...
The remastered version of An American Werewolf... itself is a revelation, played crystal clear on a huge cinema screen there's a new found vibrancy and details that were hitherto invisible come out, whether Graffiti on a phone box, the intricacies of Rick Baker's wonderful make-up or a reborn tramp scene in the shadow of Tower Bridge. On stage Landis, who oversaw the remastering, ensured that things weren't given an overly bright or glossy finish and actually sent some scenes back to be re-darkened. With my first lycanthropic encounter having been on VHS, this is a world away.
What strikes you on the umpteenth time of watching is just what a fantastically taught script it is, with not one line or shot wasted, and every single one is a classic. Landis's foreigner's take on London is mocking yet affectionate, the film also giving us one of the best and most enduring fish-out-of water scenarios ever. It goes without saying this has stood up to its advancing years staggeringly well.
I SO can't wait for the Blu-Ray for this to come out.