Movies - TV
An American Werewolf In London's Transformation Scene Was A Week-Long Slog To Film
By MIYAKO PLEINES
When it comes to werewolf transformations on screen, it's hard to top the one featured in "An American Werewolf in London." The scene was not easy to complete, and it turns out that the entire process was almost as painstakingly brutal as the fictional transformation depicted on screen.
To get the prosthetics in the scene just right, star David Naughten had molds made of his limbs and head, which he said “was really suffocating.” Naughten also recalled, "The transformation scene took an entire week to film, with me having to spend hours in makeup even just for a couple of shots."
All of the painstaking time and effort was worth it, though. Make-up artist Rick Baker went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on the film, and the transformation scene has gone down in horror history as the lycanthrope Gold Standard.