"An American Werewolf in London" returns to savage us like never before, courtesy of a special edition DVD release that'll keep you off those moors for at least a few hours.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture The bleakness of the colours remains, but this is a far cleaner picture than you'll ever have seen on any video outings for this film. You'll no longer find lots of grain inhabiting the misty scenes on the moors (the werewolf remains, though).

Sound Sticking with the moor scenes, the new 5.1 mix offers the kind of creative interpretation that fans will have hoped for, with chilling echo effects adding new menace to the howling werewolf.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio Commentary Actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne re-unite for this amiable and mildly amusing commentary. Both express amazement - more than once - at the fact that neither was given auditions. They also reserve some appreciative comments for Jenny Agutter, and Naughton talks us through the uncomfortable make-up effects.

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette Made at the time of the movie's release, this offers an insight into the creature effects that Rick Baker developed for the movie. Naughton had to be available ten months before the film started shooting so they could create moulds of him. That's commonplace now, but it was cutting edge work at the time, and there's an air of discovery around everyone involved; all of whom appear to be trying to outdo one another in beard growth.

Outtakes This is a short section with a number of goofs, and an amusing scene where Landis appears to have a porn film being shot behind him.

John Landis Interview This new interview with writer-director John Landis is an amusing affair, as he relates the well-polished tale of how he came to make this movie. It was while in the former Yugoslavia, filming "Kelly's Heroes", that he witnessed a traditional burial with a casket shrouded in garlic to make sure the dead wouldn't come back as something nasty. Landis pondered what would happen if the corpse did in fact return to life, and how ill-equipped we'd be to deal with it. He's keen to explain that the film is not a comedy, despite the dark humour in the script.

Rick Baker Interview Rick Baker looks back on what was a career-defining film for him in an interview, which includes previously unseen effects footage. He talks us through the many technical problems, including solving how a man could effectively become a four-legged werewolf. Needless to say, the idea of two men in a costume, pantomime werewolf style, was soon ditched!

Focus on Technical Effects Eight minutes of footage of Naughton getting his hand cast.

Additional Extra Features There's a short storyboard-to-film comparison, plus an animated stills gallery which includes behind-the-scenes shots.

Region: 2
Chapters: 16
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Technical Features: Scene selection, animated menus, and English captions for the hearing impaired.

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.