MFM: How did you end up finishing the film – did you ultimately have to come to America to do interviews?
PD: Yes, we continued to shoot the remainder of the UK based interviews right up until it was time to head to Los Angeles at the end of June. Once in LA (first time for all three of us) we spent four days interviewing the likes of John, [makeup effects head] Rick Baker, [production designer] Les Dilley, [producer] George Folsey, among others - and also visiting the original props at Bob Burns place, and getting a complimentary visit to Universal Studios arranged by Mr. Landis. From Los Angeles we flew straight to New York, where we were supposed to film an interview with Griffin Dunne, but was cancelled at the last minute. On top of that bad news our luggage, with all the camera equipment and footage we shot in LA, was delayed! We had to wait two days before we even knew what had happened to it! Our trip ended with a short break in Indianapolis for the first HorrorHound Weekend. We returned to the States October of 07 to film our last two interviews, David Naughton and Griffin Dunne and had the entire thing wrapped by November. The first cut was in place by March/April 2008 and it was then that Landis called me to say that Universal were planning a Blu-ray release of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and that they wanted to see the workprint. You cannot imagine how rejoiced we were. For over a year Landis had warned us not to get our hopes up because of the rights issue, but here we were... on the verge of getting this thing acquired by Universal.
MFM: What was your reaction when it was lastly acquired by Universal Studios Home Entertainment?
PD: After a lot of waiting, the studio had agreed to take it by the end of the summer. Amazing! We were bowled over excited! However, there was the rather large issue of legal clearances that needed to be dealt with. Romy and I spent a day with Landis in London going through a seventeen-page document of things that the lawyers at Universal had addressed and wanted clearances for - a lot of it was OWNED by Universal ;). Several weeks later John informed me that Universal were going to hire a post production house in LA to not only recreate the doc from scratch to clean it up, but to take the reins and make sure everything is cleared legally for the proposed March release date (to coincide with the original release date of the new film of THE WOLF MAN).
MFM: What has happened since the spring 2008 clearance to have the studio release the film on DVD?
PD: Well, November 08 swings around and Romy and I were flown out to Hollywood to oversee the final cut of BEWARE THE MOON and make sure everything was how it should be. We spent a couple of days with Landis, who had retrieved his entire still collection from the Motion Picture Academy, and even had a surprise visit from Rick Baker, who provided us with make-up test footage that has never been publicly seen - he hadn't even seen it in 27-years! While in LA, the deal was signed and the documentary was sold to Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Landis approved the final cut before we left, and after all the legal clearances were complete, the piece was officially done by the end of March 09 - with the release then pushed along with The Wolf Man to September [the film is now scheduled for release in early 2010]. We got our world premiere at the prestigious Film4 Frightfest on the biggest screen in the UK at The Empire Leicester Square on August 28th and in America at The New Beverly on September 14th. If anyone had said to me 3-years ago that any of this would have happened - I'd have laughed at them!
On September 14, 2009 at the New Beverly Cinema, an old small standalone movie house near the Los Angeles Farmer's Market, the U.S. premiere screening of Beware the Moon was held. In attendance were several crew from the original An American Werewolf in London production, including producer George Folsey, makeup effects pioneer Rick Baker, who won an Oscar for his work on the film, production designer Les Dilley, and other crew from the makeup effects production, including Tom Hester and Bill Sturgeon. They reminsced about working on AAWIL, but were discouraged from revealing too much to the packed house as many of their comments are already in Beware the Moon. Ironically, director John Landis was in London on other project but was represented by his son Max, who is now a writer. The following day, Beware the Moon was released on DVD in the US for its premiere, included on the "Full Moon Edition" of the AAWIL package. Reports have the disc catching viewers' attention to date, even 28 years after its initial theatrical release.
