An American Werewolf in London

Other mistake: When the two Americans are walking on the moors, their shadows are always in front of them, despite them having changed direction numerous times. Additionally, with the moon always being behind them, how are their faces being lit?

Continuity mistake: The level of liquid in the doctor's beer mug changes noticeably between shots; the mug fills itself up again just before he leaves the pub. (00:47:10)

Jean G

Continuity mistake: In Jack's first appearance to David in the hospital room, Jack uncovers the food on the tray and takes a piece of toast from another plate on the tray. The silver cover on the tray changes position throughout the scene in various shots. Sometimes the cover is resting partly on the tray and sometimes flat on the tray table surface.

Randy DeShong

Factual error: Though it's set in England, hospital personnel use American terms like "charts" and "orderly". In any British hospital these should be "case notes" and "porter", respectively .

Continuity mistake: In the scene where David (as a werewolf) exits the theatre, causing general havoc and mayhem, a car crashes into the one in front of it, sending the "driver" through the windshield. If you watch closely (or use slo-mo), you'll see that the driver goes through the windshield just before hitting the car in front of him (or her).

Visible crew/equipment: The couple in the street are the first to be attacked by the werewolf in London. As they walk in the street past the houses, you can see a large Studio Light reflecting in the windows.

Plot hole: The first time David werewolfizes, he's reading a book in the brightly lit apartment. Exterior shots of the full moon show it's nighttime out, so the lights inside the apartment must be on. But when Dr. Hirsch calls to check on him, the shot is of the phone ringing, unanswered, in the completely darkened apartment. That's considerate, David. Even as a werewolf, he must have run around turning lights off before going on his rampage.

Continuity mistake: When David has his first transformation watch as his feet first start to change. His big toes grow and his pinky toes (what I call them) stay in place. Then when it shows David on his back. His pinky toes are the same length as his index, middle, and ring toes but his big toes haven't changed position just shape.

Continuity mistake: When David begins his first transformation, his nails turn into claws. At the end of the movie when David is sitting in the theater and going through another transformation, claws are seen sprouting from his nails.

Continuity mistake: Jack's friend, who he went to England with, appears to have a magic jacket. It changes colour twice during the movie: from blue to brown to green.

Other mistake: When David changes into a werewolf for the first time you can see his huge feet vibrate when he moves his legs in agony: they are made from rubber.

Visible crew/equipment: Once the doctor arrives at the pub in Yorkshire to 'investigate' it (as usual) rains. It is plain visible that the rain is water sprayed from several hoses.

Continuity mistake: The first werewolf never damaged Jack's face, but when he is dead he has large scratches on the face.

oswal13

Revealing mistake: The first time David werewolfizes, we're treated to the complete process... hair developing, bones painfully lengthening and twisting... and the torso of the actor very visibly halfway in the floor while all this is going on to the full-body werewolf prosthesis. Oh for computer graphics at the time to erase that detail of the process.

Continuity mistake: At the beginning sequence, after he leaves the car with the sheep, David has dirt on his jacket. In the next scene, only a few seconds later, the dirt has gone.

Joey221995

Alex: David, please be rational. Let's go and see Dr. Hirsch.
David: Yeah, be rational. Sure. I'm a fucking werewolf, for Christ's sake.

More quotes from An American Werewolf in London

Trivia: John Landis wanted to use Cat Stevens song Moon Shadow for the opening credits. Cat Stevens refused because he believes werewolves actually exist.

More trivia for An American Werewolf in London

Question: When David is starting to turn into a werewolf, he sees his entire body starting to change. So why is it that when he is talking to Alex the next morning he can't remember it happening and the last thing he remembers is reading a book?

Answer: Traumatic events have a tendency to disrupt the memory - people who have been involved in a car accident, for example, often have no memory of the events leading up to the accident, even though they would obviously have perceived those events at the time. The physical and mental stresses of the werewolf transformation have clearly disrupted David's memories in a similar fashion.

Tailkinker

More questions & answers from An American Werewolf in London

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.