Directed by John Landis [1981]
USA / Color / English
Rated R; 97 min

John Landis blends the macabre with a wicked sense of humor in this contemporary take on the werewolf genre. While wandering the English moors on vacation, American college students David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are attacked by what appears to be a wolf… David survives but is plagued by strange nightmares that include visits from his dead friend Jack. David is also befriended by a beautiful nurse named Alex.  Upon his discharge from the hospital, Alex takes him in, and the two start up a romance.

But David is still plagued by nightmares.  Jack returns and warns him that they were attacked by a werewolf, and that David needs to kill himself to end the curse and free his victims from limbo.  Will David be able to stop the curse, or will he be saved by love?

One of many films to engage the werewolf mania of the 1980s, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON won an Academy Award for Rick Bakers breathtaking special effects.

• All the songs in this film have the word “moon” in their titles.
• John Landis originally wanted three other songs to add to the soundtrack: Cat Stevens wouldn’t allow “Moonshadow” to be used because he had stopped allowing his secular music to be licensed for films following his conversion to Islam; Bob Dylan wouldn’t allow his version of “Blue Moon” to be used in an R-rated film, as he had just begun his brief conversion to Christianity; and Elvis Presley’s version of “Blue Moon” proved unavailable due to the ongoing lawsuits involving his estate.
• The legal disclaimer in the closing credits reads, “Any resemblance to any persons living, dead, or undead, is coincidental.” This was also placed at the end of anotherJohn Landis project: Thriller, which was reportedly inspired by (and held several allusions to) this film.
• At the close of the credits is a congratulatory message for the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana (as Lady Diana Spencer). It was included because during the scene when David is trying to get arrested, he shouts, “Prince Charles is gay!” The film was shot months before the preparations for the couple’s July 1981 wedding.
• Studio executives hoped John Landis would cast Dan Aykroyd in the role of David andJohn Belushi as Jack. John Landis refused.
• David Naughton was reportedly cast because John Landis had seen him in a television commercial for Dr. Pepper.
• The episode of The Muppet Show playing on the television during David’s nightmare sequence is indeed a real episode, but the portion shown was never shown in the US. This is why it was considered a fake episode and why Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) and Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) are credited.
• Because of this film, makeup and industry technological contributions became recognized by the Academy Awards in 1981. Makeup artist Rick Baker was the first to receive an Oscar in the new category. William Tuttle was the first makeup effects artist to receive an Oscar (being an honorary one) for his work on 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.
• The final look of the werewolf beast was based on make-up creator Rick Baker’s dog Bosko.

A successful director, John Landis is best known for his comedies, which include National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), and Trading Places (1983).  He started out his career in the mail room at Twentieth Century Fox and soon found other behind-the-scenes jobs, including working as a stuntman. His first effort as a director was the 1973 horror comedy Schlock, for which he wrote the screenplay. Landis also starred in it as the title character, a monster created by makeup artist Rick Baker.

For his next project, Landis directed the comedy Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), which featured a series of skits that spoofed a number of film genres and other forms of media. He went to direct his first big box office hit, National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978). Again working with Belushi, Landis directed The Blues Brothers(1980). The following year, Landis returned to the horror comedy genre with An American Werewolf in London (1981), which starred David Naughton. He had reteamed with Rick Baker for this gory story of two Americans attacked by a werewolf while on vacation.

The next two years were a challenging time for Landis.  While filming the Vietnam scenes for his segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed after a helicopter crashed on top of them. Landis and several other members of the production were later charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to these deaths. In the subsequent trial, they were all found not guilty.

While his reputation was somewhat sullied by the tragedy, Landis continued to find success on the big screen.  Branching out into television, Landis helped create the HBO comedy Dream On in the early 1990s. More recently, Landis has directed episodes of such television shows as Psych, Masters of Horror, and Fear Itself.