Movies
‘An American Werewolf in London’ – Watch the Iconic Transformation With the Original Rejected Score!
Remember those never-before-seen outtakes from William Friedkin’s The Exorcist that we shared with you for Halloween? That rare footage came courtesy of Paul Davis, who directed Beware the Moon: Remembering An American Werewolf in London as well as the films The Body and Uncanny Annie (both part of Blumhouse’s anthology series “Into the Dark”).
Davis is back this week with another rare and never-before-seen treat, and this time it’s all about An American Werewolf in London. Specifically, Davis has shared the film’s iconic werewolf transformation sequence – with the original rejected musical score!
“Here is something that myself and the team at New Wave Entertainment tried to pull off back in 2008 as a bonus feature for the first Blu-ray release of An American Werewolf in London in September 2009,” Davis explains. “With the blessing of John Landis and Universal Home Entertainment, we attempted to restore Elmer Bernstein’s original score that was recorded and subsequently rejected for the legendary transformation sequence.”
He continues, “Couldn’t quite get there because there were no separate audio tracks to remove the Sam Cooke audio, but it was an interesting experiment. While it wasn’t released on the Blu-ray as a separate feature, we thought the result was pretty interesting, and certainly changes the tone of the scene.”
“We showed it to Rick Baker, who had not heard the score, in the cutting room in LA in ‘08, and he was stunned by it,” Davis also tells Bloody Disgusting this afternoon. “Just seeing that reaction from the guy who created all the FX for the scene was worth it.”
Of course, the finished version of An American Werewolf in London features Sam Cooke’s song “Blue Moon” over top of the transformation scene, as Landis wanted the vibe of the sequence to be “sad and painful” rather than “scary.” But Elmer Bernstein took a stab at scoring the sequence anyway, and now you can finally watch the scene with that track from Bernstein.
Davis notes in the video, “I think you will see in this sequence, as Elmer Bernstein recorded it, it completely changes the scene. It makes it a horror transformation.”
NEON has been absolutely slaying the marketing game for their horror output this year, and they’re kicking the Longlegs campaign into high gear with one more month until release.
A cryptic ad in The Seattle Times today (seen below) has led clever horror fans to discover TheBirthdayMurders.net, the brand new official viral marketing website for Longlegs.
The in-universe website details the victims of the serial killer known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), described as a “Satan-worshipping psycho” who has terrorized families throughout the Pacific Northwest for nearly three decades.
The website details, “A bloody trail of bodies here in the great state of Oregon attests to the depraved savagery of this one-of-a-kind serial killer. With over three dozen victims that we know of, LONGLEGS is one of the most prolific mass murderers ever to have graced the region, and his gruesome endeavors are the stuff of nightmares. At first, all of the killings appeared to be straightforward murder-suicides: the handiwork of average men who suddenly snapped and slaughtered their wives and children. But a series of eerie coded messages left at the crime scenes indicate that someone – or something – is influencing these horrific crimes. The cryptic letters are signed by someone calling himself LONGLEGS.”
“With thirty-eight kills to his name, LONGLEGS has torn apart the lives of eleven different families throughout the Beaver State. His victims were good people: honest fathers, decent mothers, innocent little children.”
The website is loaded with secrets, clues, and gruesome (faux) crime scene photos, and you might even find a mention of yours truly nestled in there. Poke around. Stay a while.
Longlegs arrives in theaters July 12.
The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.
In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.
The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”
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