The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

An American Werewolf in London
9
London. I guess we were really like fourteen, fifteen, and the first thing we
did when we had some time off is we tried to find the porno theater in Piccadilly
Circus where the film was shot, which by that time didn’t exist. I
couldn’t figure out where the entrance was.
John Landis achieved some location work in London that wasn’t done
again for a very long time. It’s extraordinary what they managed to achieve
in night shoots in London—having shot in London myself and knowing how
restrictive that is of a location. When you watch that scene it’s just incredible.
There’s a lot of location work in the film, which would be very difficult to do
today. Like the Trafalgar Square stuff, the London Zoo stuff. You know, even
the scene on the tube. All the location work is so vivid, those locations are forever
linked with An American Werewolf in London. Like the Tottenham Court
Road tube station, where the commuter is being pursued.
There were odd lines in that film that would just kind of, like, really resonate
with me and my friends. We would constantly do impressions of the
commuter before he starts getting chased and he’s standing on the platform
alone, which to be honest would be very rare at Tottenham Court Road,
where it’s strange to see one person alone any time of day or night.
Tell me about lines. What was the impression?
Wright: Oh, the line that the commuter says is [in a high, indignant voice]:
“Hello? Is there someone there? I can assure you that this is not in the least
bit amusing.” It’s not one of the funniest lines in the film, but it’s one of these
lines that everybody always remembers. Like, “Beware the moon” and “Stay
on the road.” There are too many favorite bits in this film. I’m not sure I
could pick favorites.
Another classic—and this is where John Landis’s theory about it not being
a comedy falls down—is in the scene where David Naughton wakes up in the
wolf cage naked and has to escape the London Zoo. And so there’s the young
school boy with some balloons and Naughton is hiding behind the bush and
says to the little kid, “Hey, kid. Little boy with the balloons! Come over here!
If you come over here, I’ll give you a pound. Two pounds.”
The kid goes, “I don’t know who you are.” And Naughton says, “I’m the
famous balloon thief,” and then walks out, stark naked, takes his balloons
and then runs off. So that’s pretty funny itself.