Arrow Video Announces 4K Ultra HD Edition Of Director John Landis' An American Werewolf In London For Release On Mar. 15

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K Ultra HD edition of writer/director John Landis’ summer of 1981 iconic creature feature, An American Werewolf in London, set for genre-fans to savor once again — in all of its 4K glory (or is that gory?) — on Mar. 15.

The 4K film restoration is from the original camera negative.

This was the first film that Landis wrote, but being a nobody in 1969 he couldn’t get it produced, it had to wait.   His first film turned out to be a masterwork; genius and let the world of cinema know that a new auteur had arrived.   Of course, that was his 1973 debut film, Schlock, starring Eliza Garrett (aka: Eliza Roberts) as Blind Mindy and the Schlockthropus (aka: John Landis), with special makeup by another newcomer, Rick Baker, who has been nominated 13 times for Oscars, winning six times … How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Men in Black, The Nutty Professor, Ed Wood, Harry and the Hendersons and An American Werewolf in London.

Which brings us full circle to An American Werewolf in London.  Landis hit it big with Animal House and The Blues Brothers, so suddenly he was able to put into production this film, and turned to Rick Baker, the genius who created the iconic Schlockthropus monster to create the Oscar-winning creature that would be the centerpiece of An American Werewolf in London.

The story goes that Baker needed months to fashion the creature and the transformation process that Landis had envisioned, so that meant that the key cast members, backpacking buddies, David Kessler (David Naughton — Hot Dog … The Movie, Steel and Lace) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne — After Hours, Dallas Buyers Club, Straight Talk), had to be locked-in long before the actual filming commenced in order for Baker to design everything around them. 

That’s not the normal way it usually goes, but it turned out to be genius … the onscreen transformation from human to werewolf was groundbreaking.   

Two unknowns in leading roles, so the film needed at least one familiar name in the credits, so Jenny Agutter came onboard as Nurse Alex Price, and, as they say, the rest was history … An American Werewolf in London was a smash. 

Arrow Video has loaded this 4K Ultra HD edition up with a ton of bonus goodies, including two commentary options, one featuring actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne, while second is with filmmaker Paul Davis.

Documentary filmmaker Daniel Griffith’s feature-length film, Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf, is include here as a bonus, plus video sessions with both Landis and Baker, outtakes, a massive still library and eight featurettes — “An American Filmmaker in London,” “I Think He’s a Jew: The Werewolf’s Secret,” “The Werewolf’s Call,” “Wares of the Wolf,” “Beware the Moon,” “An American Werewolf in Bob’s Basement,” “Causing a Disturbance: Piccadilly Revisited” and “Making An American Werewolf in London.”