An American Werewolf in London (1981) Poster

Parents Guide

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Certification

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Certification

Sex & Nudity

  • There's a scene in a porn theater with no graphic images really shown.

Violence & Gore

  • The famous transformation scene is entirely onscreen, and although not gory, is very gross and disturbing.
  • A man is mauled to death by a werewolf, and his body is then shown covered in blood.
  • A man's face is scratched by a werewolf, producing some blood.
  • In a dream sequence, a man mauls and kills a deer, he then bites a chunk of flesh from it.
  • In a rather bizzare sequence, a man has a nightmare where he and his family are massacred by werewolf-like monsters in Nazi uniforms. Everyone is shot with machine guns (mostly offscreen), and he has his throat slit with some graphic detail seen briefly. Then, a nurse is stabbed to death with lots of blood seen, albeit very briefly.
  • A couple walking to their friends' home are killed by the werewolf David. Afterwards, one of their friends discovers their mutilated corpses.
  • The werewolf David attacks three tramps (British hobos).
  • A policeman runs inside of an adult cinema to find a werewolf eating a corpse. Lots of blood, and you can even see his intestines on the ground. It's still very brief and darkly lit.
  • In the film's finale, chaos ensues and there is death scene after death scene. Firstly, a man is decapitated by a werewolf, and his head is Sean flying through the air. The werewolf runs through the streets, causing numerous vehicle collisions. People are run over, sent flying out of cars, vehicles crash into each other, etc. Although some deaths can be bloody, most of them appear for a very brief time (some show up for less than a second).
  • David meets up with, and casually converses with his undead victims in an adult cinema. They are seen with blood all over them and skin missing.

Profanity

  • One use of cunt, out of desperation and just to cause offence rather than aimed as a personal insult.
  • Several uses of fuck, shit, goddamn; other minor or religious swearing.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

  • People are seen drinking beer or smoking cigarettes, mostly in the same pub setting.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • The ending is very depressing.
  • The transformation can be disturbing.
  • While there is lots of over-the-top comedy in the film, there's plenty of frightening moments to go along with them.
  • The werewolf attacks are infrequent, but for the most part very intense. The werewolf itself is one the most frightening looking wolf monsters seen on film to this day.
  • The dream sequences become increasingly scary or disturbing.
  • The transformation sequence is quite eerie, mostly due to the breathtaking animatronics and makeup.
  • A man is chased through a subway corridor, which builds up tension.
  • The car crash sequence at the end of the film is also intense.

Spoilers

The Parents Guide items below may give away important plot points.

Violence & Gore

  • Jack appears as a ghost, with his face slashed, throat lacerated, and several wounds on his chest. As the film progresses, his body decays like a corpse, eventually appearing like a zombie.
  • Two werewolves are shot in the abdomen, one at the beginning of the film and the other at the end. We see their bleeding human corpses.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • Even though this film is a comedy, it also deals with underline themes of trauma and suicide, and it does address both topics in a very upfront manner. The most obvious example being the scene at a movie theater where David is taunted to kill himself by the mutilated spirits of his dead friend and his victims. Even tho it's played off with humor, it might distress some sensitive viewers due to the idea of suicide.
  • A man's friend (who dies at the start of the film) comes back from the dead. The friend informs the man that he is a werewolf and he will continue to kill people on a full moon unless he kills himself. The dead friend is shown at different stages of decomposition, complete with blood, bones and rotten flesh. He looks disturbing but is humorous in nature.

See also

Taglines | Plot Summary | Synopsis | Plot Keywords


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