American Werewolf in London, An [HD DVD and DVD Combo]

The standard definition side finds an identical looking transfer to the twentieth anniversary disc. The film looks overly soft when the screen is either darkly-lit or overly bright. After watching the HD-DVD side of the Combo disc, the colors look far less vibrant far less saturated. Grain and other flaws in the source materials are far more noticeable. If I had not watched the high definition transfer, I would have been more satisfied with the standard definition side, but it looks disappointing knowing the grass truly is greener on the other side (of the disc).

Sound:
"An American Werewolf in London" has received an English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 multi-channel surround mix. Going as far back as the former non-anamorphic LIVE Entertainment release, the film has had 5.1 channels of sound. The second release on DVD brought about a DTS 5.1 channel mix as well and that is provided on the standard definition side of this combination release. No matter how many channels you throw its way, the source tracks were not created with multichannel surround sound in mind and you just can't dress up this film much more in the sound quality than they have already done with the previous releases.

That being said, "An American Werewolf in London" still sounds fairly decent in Dolby Digital Plus. It is not the most excitable soundtrack, as it is rarely aggressive. Most of the sound populates the front three channels. The .1 LFE channel is silent aside from a few action moments, as are the rear surrounds. Dialogue is clear and easily intelligible. The sound is pretty clean, but for a film that was recorded when stereo sound was considered high-technology, today's home theater marvels cannot do too much to make this sound better than what it is – an aging catalog title.

Extras:
"An American Werewolf in London" features the fine array of features from the Twentieth Anniversary DVD release. Of course, having the standard edition DVD on the reverse side could be considered an "Extra," but I would hardly consider it value-added. There is a purpose to it and this ability to have both versions on one plastic platter is currently something that Blu-ray is unable to do, but I have been far less than impressed by the sheer number of titles that are released as such and the additional impact it has on one's wallet.

The HD-DVD side features a Feature Commentary with Cast Members David Naughton and Griffin Dunne, the two stars of the film. The two actors provide a nice mixture of background information on the making of the film and share anecdotes and stories from their involvement with the production. This is a pretty nice commentary track and gives a lot of solid information on "An American Werewolf in London."

A number of featurettes are included as well. The Making An American Werewolf in London, an Original Featurette is as old as the film itself and is very much a promotional sort of presentation. John Landis, Griffin Dunne and David Naughton are included and they look at the werewolf and other technical feats of the production. Running at just a handful of minutes, it is a nice historical record of the making of this cult classic. Makeup Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London in an interview with Rick Baker from the previous DVD edition, as is An Interview with John Landis, as these were both produced for that DVD release. A few smaller features complete the supplemental offerings - Casting of the Hand, Outtakes, Storyboards and a Photograph Montage. These are all fairly short, but provide a nice amount of additional information on the film.

Closing Comments:
Universal has been digging in their closet and "An American Werewolf in London" is one of the latest catalog offerings to make its way to HD-DVD in an HD-DVD/DVD Combo release. The film is an absolute classic and a wonderful mix of horror and comedy. John Landis is a great filmmaker when it comes to delivering the laughs, but this departure from his normal repertoire is nicely done. The HD-DVD features an improved picture over the previous standard definition releases, but is still saddled with film grain and bouts of softness and murkiness. The sound is a minor upgrade over previous offerings, but the threshold has been hit as to what you can do sound-wise with the film's source materials. The source materials are those that were previously found on the Twentieth Anniversary DVD release and their inclusion is a nice bonus here. This is an enjoyable film and if you do not have it in your library, then you may want to consider picking this up.

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