An American Werewolf in London (1981) (Limited Edition)

[Ray Jackson]

I watched this tonight for the first time.

...and LOVED IT.

I can’t believe I waited more than 35 years to see it.

It was the perfect blend of genuine horror and some understated comedy.

Pacing was great...acting was solid...Landis did a fine job directing.

I’m so relieved that it wasn’t a disappointment.

...I may even double dip for the Arrow.

[gazza1975]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I watched this tonight for the first time.

...and LOVED IT.

I can’t believe I waited more than 35 years to see it.

It was the perfect blend of genuine horror and some understated comedy.

Pacing was great...acting was solid...Landis did a fine job directing.

I’m so relieved that it wasn’t a disappointment.

...I may even double dip for the Arrow.

Glad you liked it - it’s one of my favourite films ever and the opening scene on the moors still scares the shit out of me - I’ve been thinking about writing a prequel to this movie as I would love to know the origins of the werewolf and the whole mystery with the pub and the symbol on the wall would make a great story - not sure about buying the arrow release as it surely won’t be better than the universal remaster ?

[Leterface]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I watched this tonight for the first time.

...and LOVED IT.

I can’t believe I waited more than 35 years to see it.

It was the perfect blend of genuine horror and some understated comedy.

Pacing was great...acting was solid...Landis did a fine job directing.

I’m so relieved that it wasn’t a disappointment.

...I may even double dip for the Arrow.

Great you finally made to see it!

I watched it as of my first ever horror films at a very young age and have been loving it (and scared) ever since.

Will definately go for the Arrow BD (can't wait to upgrade it the 3rd time I think).

[SpaceMind]

My mom took me to see this when I was 8 years old. We both ended up closing our eyes and plugging our ears in the movie it was so scary. I had nightmares about the werewolf until I was 12 years old. At 12 I watched it again and the nightmares went away.

Awesome movie. I love it.

[Ssj3 Goku]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I watched this tonight for the first time.

...and LOVED IT.

I can’t believe I waited more than 35 years to see it.

It was the perfect blend of genuine horror and some understated comedy.

Pacing was great...acting was solid...Landis did a fine job directing.

I’m so relieved that it wasn’t a disappointment.

...I may even double dip for the Arrow.

Glad you love the movie, it really is one of the great horror movies of the 80's.

[Luke Dodge748]

When I saw this film as a kid I was kinda blown away by how good and violent it is. Shocked me. From the moors on you know this film is special.... Glad you enjoyed it.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by gazza1975

not sure about buying the arrow release as it surely won’t be better than the universal remaster ?

Pretty sure they could fart out a better transfer than the Universal *ahem* “remaster”. Upgrading to the Arrow is a complete no-brainer.

[MTRodaba2468]

Originally Posted by gazza1975

not sure about buying the arrow release as it surely won’t be better than the universal remaster ?

As Filmmaker said, BOTH Universal releases have a bunch of issues with their respective transfers. For the most part, Arrow has a good track record with the transfers they put out, so it's likely that their release will be the best one.

[Bobbyjoe766]

Most importantly, the ARROW release offers the original mono audio.

[Shingster]

Originally Posted by gazza1975

Glad you liked it - it’s one of my favourite films ever and the opening scene on the moors still scares the shit out of me - I’ve been thinking about writing a prequel to this movie as I would love to know the origins of the werewolf and the whole mystery with the pub and the symbol on the wall would make a great story - not sure about buying the arrow release as it surely won’t be better than the universal remaster ?

Both Universal BD transfers (old and newer) are over processed garbage and neither release offers the original audio (with at least one release - the newer one - having incorrect pitch IIRC), and it's precisely why I don't own it in HD, so yeah: The Arrow has the potential to be MUCH better. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed!

Originally Posted by PipesDonatello

I agree. I just thought of Jaws first since Landis and Spielberg were still such tight buddies at the time AAWIL was being filmed.

Yeah Jaws was a good shout, hugely influential in so many ways and definitely has to be one of the precursors of the modern day horror comedy.

[Ray Jackson]

I just finished watching the special features on the 35th anniversary release and they’re great...pretty in depth.

The transfer seems very good to my eyes.

What is Arrow really bringing to the table here?

...aside from sweet packaging.

[Shingster]

Film grain, of which there is absolutely zero in the Restored Edition transfer. We won't really know if the Arrow will be bringing that to the table until it comes out though, they could just end up re-heating the same grain-managed restoration.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

The transfer seems very good to my eyes.

What is Arrow really bringing to the table here?

...aside from sweet packaging.

Something that looks like, well, film.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Shingster

Film grain, of which there is absolutely zero in the Restored Edition transfer. We won't really know if the Arrow will be bringing that to the table until it comes out though, they could just end up re-heating the same grain-managed restoration.

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

Something that looks like, well, film.

I suppose you gentlemen thought there were too many tannins in the wine as well.

...2016 was an off year for Pinot.

[Show spoiler]

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Regardless if Landis somehow becomes like Friedkin and over-processes the new 4k scan, or Arrow ends up using the 6k scan from last Uni BD as the basis, the upcoming Arrow BD will still have a massive advantage over the last two Blus, especially in having original lossless mono and fixing the lowered pitch on the 5.1 track.

If Arrow pulls through with a nicer looking 4k scan after all, then bring on The Last Starfighter done this way (which needs a new 4k remaster badly). If that were to come to fruition it might be US only as Warner owns UK rights (TLS was a co-production with Universal and Lorimar, which became part of Warner in 1988), but did not put out a DVD release in territories it owns TLS so maybe.

[bendermac]

The trailers on this release should also be noted as something special. Except for some crappy vhs captures on youtube, they have never been added to any other home video release. Hopefully Arrow was able to get the proper 35mm or even 16mm reels of the trailers and don't use the youtube versions.

[goathunter]

Originally Posted by Shingster

Both Universal BD transfers (old and newer) are over processed garbage and neither release offers the original audio (with at least one release - the newer one - having incorrect pitch IIRC),

The only digital media release that does not have the incorrect pitch is the original Live DVD release. Every Universal release on DVD and BD has had the lower-pitch soundtrack.

[Haddonfield81]

It’s definitely time to upgrade with this release.

[Rick Grimes]

While I felt the “Restored Edition” looked better than the original, despite the excessive DNR (too much noise on the original transfer), I am hoping that Arrow will bring something that leaves the natural look of film grain intact. Since the “Restored Edition” was released pre-2018 (Arrow have suggested their 4K scan was done in 2018), I am confident Arrow will deliver a decent product, based on the other Arrow titles I’ve watched.
As for the audio. since I was used to the PAL VHS/DVD, it was pleasing to have the correct speed on BD, and hence I didn’t notice the incorrect pitch.

While Arrow are also releasing Robocop and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I am happy with my MGM 4K remaster of Robocop (Arrow using same transfer), and for Fear and Loathing, I own the 2014 remaster (AVC encode), that was released in Australia/Germany (and other markets outside US).

But with Arrow, Arrow has a great chance to finally get a decent BD transfer.

[The Peanut Monkey]

Haven't owned this since the shitty two (?) disc edition DVD from back in the day. It's been a long, looong time but I remember something distinctly funky about it. I think it even had a major editing mistake and a scene was accidentally (?!) trimmed or excised or something. Maybe I have the wrong movie.