AAWIL cinema reissue for Halloween (UK)

[darkwolfavenged]

I've just found out that Universal are now including An American Werewolf in London as part of their classics reissue this year. The movie gets UK nationwide screenings on Friday 30 October 2009 at Cineworld cinemas.

www.cineworld.co.uk/films/2935

No individual cinemas are listed yet so we'll need to keep an eye closer the day. My local one (Bristol) doesn't seem to do these rereleases with the closest to me being Gloucester. John Carpenter's The Thing is screening there on Tues 15th Sept and I am very tempted to drive up the M5 to see it on the big screen. If AAWIL does go there then that's a no brainer for me. I WILL be there. ;D

[Werewolf]

Awesome. I'll keep an eye on the 2 nearest me.

[darkwolfavenged]

WOOHOO! It's now getting a full weeks release at my local Vue cinema. Seven days of 10pm showings from Fri 30th October. By then I'll also have the bluray. American Werewolf overload.

[Werewolf]

Still doesn't say if my two nearest are playing it yet.

[darkwolfavenged]

Well, I went last Sunday at 10pm with some friends to see this beauty. And it was brilliant to see it on the big screen for the first time with a perfect picture and a paying audience. To see this bad boy on the big screen with an audience has always been one of my biggest cinema-going ambitions. And I’ve now done it. I was grinning like an idiot all the way through.

As a life long horror fan - especially werewolves - AAWWIL was, as a kid, a film I closely followed every part of its production of. Unfortunately when it came out in ’81 I couldn’t see it at the cinema what with it being an X certificate and me being only eleven. I remember as a kid walking past the old Odeon cinema in Bristol and looking up longingly at the poster. It wasn’t until its release on home video in the early eighties that I finally got to see it for myself. And I’ve been hooked on this beast of a film ever since. It is quite simply brilliant! It works perfectly in everything it does. The story is simple, lean and tight. It doesn’t arse about. Just twenty minutes in and poor Jack and David are having a very bad time of it on the moors. The commentary on Britain in the early eighties is spot on whether it’s the north/south divide, the NHS and its grumpy orderlies, the awful (then) three channel TV or the trashy tabloids flogging their wares that we still suffer. John Landis nails the feel of the country like probably only an outsider could. The comedy is brilliantly funny too but never overshadows the horror and is done in Landis’ inimitable style. And then there’s the FX. Amazing! Never bettered. Rick Baker’s stunning transformation and full-on beast work still thrills. It is the best that creature FX can deliver and which no CGI can ever replace. IMHO the films quadruped ‘hell hound’ is the best designed and scariest werewolf ever and one of THE best movie monsters ever. It looks like pure ferocious evil with teeth so big it can literally rip a mans head clean off.

The new digital presentation looked gorgeous on the big screen. A pin sharp and blemish free picture that made Robert Paynter’s great cinematography standout more than ever. I love the lighting on the moors and the dark shadows of Alex’s flat when Jack comes to visit. Creepy as anything. The sound was loud and clear and I even picked up on a few tiny dialogue bits and subtle music cues I hadn’t heard before. The scares don’t really get me anymore as I know the film backwards. But they are so well done that I couldn’t help but flinch slightly when David has his ‘yellow eyes’ dream in the woods and when cheery toffs Harry & Judith get wolfed outside their friends flat. “Sean, I think there are some hooligans in the park again.” LOL

And then there is that ending. Brutal and sad. A real downer…which suddenly cuts from sobbing Nurse Alex to black screen and up tempo song over the credits. Love it. Like the rest of the film it's straight to the point with no arsing around. Jobs done. Story's over. Go home.

Thank you Universal Pictures for giving me a fantastic early Christmas present.

“Beware the moon, lads!”

[Werewolf]

It never played near me. Was really pissed off.

[keywolf]

Nice write-up darkwolf. Seen it twice on the big screen now, once was the beautiful cleaned up one and the other was a skanky, grainy print. Nice as it was to see the amazing restored version, I actually preferred the grotty showing- a bit more authentic and grindhouse.

I didn' t see it at the cinema when it first came out, but being a foetus at the time, I doubt I would have fully appreciated it.

[Werewolf]

Depending on the month of initial screening i was either a screaming newborn or still in the womb! Pissed that i missed it on the big screen. Perhaps i'll catch the 50th Anniversary version!