Trivia for
An American Werewolf in London (1981)

• All the songs in this film have "moon" in the title.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [John Landis] [SYNW] the porno film showing when David meets Jack and his zombie friends. A poster for the film appears in the London Underground when the man is killed.
  
  
• The screenplay was written in 1969 by director John Landis, then 19 years old.
  
  

• At the close of the credits is a congratulatory message for the wedding of Prince Charles and 'Lady Diana' .
  
  
• John Landis originally wanted two other songs to add to the soundtrack, Cat Stevens's "Moonshadow" and Bob Dylan's version of "Blue Moon", but they both declined.
  
  
• The legal disclaimer in the closing credits reads, "Any resemblance to any persons living, dead, or undead is coincidental". This was also placed at the end of another John Landis project: Thriller (1983) (V), which was reportedly inspired by (and held several allusions to) this film.
  
  
• David Naughton was reportedly cast because John Landis had seen him in a television commercial for Dr. Pepper.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [John Landis] appears briefly near the end of the film. He is the bearded man who gets hit by a car and thrown through the plate glass window in Piccadilly Circus.
  
  
• In 1997, the movie was re-recorded as a Radio drama by Audio Movies Limited for BBC Radio 1 in England. It was broadcast during Halloween that year, in short snippets throughout the day. Brian Glover, John Woodvine and Jenny Agutter reprised their roles from the movie.
  
  
• Studio executives hoped John Landis would cast Dan Aykroyd in the role of David and John Belushi as Jack. John Landis refused.
  
  
• John Landis got the idea for the film while working on Kelly's Heroes (1970) as a production assistant in Yugoslavia. While watching a gypsy funeral (where they lace the coffin with garlic so the corpse doesn't come back to haunt everyone) he wondered how a western culture would react to being visited by a dead friend.
  
  
• John Landis wrote the screenplay for this film while he was a gofer on the Kelly's Heroes (1970) shoot.
  
  
• When trying to call home, the telephone number that David Kessler gives the operator (516-472-3402) contains a Long Island, New York area code. It is also an unusual case where an actual phone number is used.
  
  
• The London Underground station used in the film is Aldwych. It was closed in 1994. It is kept in pristine condition and is available to rent as a large film set for period dramas, pop videos etc. Other films have also used this station.
  
  
• The tube station used in the film is (or is dressed as) Tottenham Court Road, Northern Line branch. The sign for Tottenham Court Road can clearly be seen in some shots.
  
  
• The location filming of the front of Alex's flat and surroundings was filmed on or around Lupus Street in Pimlico, London ('Lupus' is the Latin for 'wolf').
  
  
• Humphrey Bogart can be seen in two posters in Alex's apartment. There is one for Casablanca (1942) on the front wall in the living room, and there's a black-and-white solo shot of Humphrey Bogart in the kitchen.
  
  
• The episode of "The Muppet Show" (1976) playing on TV during David's nightmare sequence is indeed a real episode but the portion shown on TV was never shown in the US. This is why it has been considered a fake episode and why Miss Piggy and Kermit are credited.
  
  
• David Naughton reported that the "hospital bed in the forest" scene was the most difficult/painful one. Back then, they use glass contact lenses.
  
  
• At the very end of the film, an advertisement for Universal Studios is shown along with a suggestion to "Ask for Babs". This is a reference to a "Where are they Now" item featured towards the end of Animal House (1978), another film by 'John Landis' .
  
  
• The wolves used in the London Zoo scene were kept privately by Roger Palmer in the UK and appeared in several TV programmes and in adverts. Roger went on to found the UK Wolf Conservation Trust which keeps wolves to this day.
  
  
• Because of this film, makeup and industry technological contributions became recognized by the Academy Awards in 1981. This film's visuals earned makeup artist Rick Baker the first ever Academy Award to be bestowed upon a special effects artist.
  
  
• The final look of the werewolf beast was based on make-up creator Rick Baker's dog Bosko.
  
  

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