History Trivia / AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon

* ThrowItIn: The little strip of skin flapping about on Griffin Dunne's face when the undead Jack visits David in the hospital was kept intact in the final cut when it was found to have made Dunne's appearance far more convincing.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Universal wanted Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/JohnBelushi to play the leads, but Creator/JohnLandis refused.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** The dart player is David Schofield, who would play Mercer in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.
** The policeman in Trafalgar Square who successfully manages to ignore David's volley of swear words is played by Peter Ellis, who only a few years later went on to play the regular character Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow in British long-runner ''Series/TheBill''.
** Creator/RikMayall plays a patron at The Slaughtered Lamb.

** A favorite ploy of John Landis. Extras in the zoo scene were told only that David Naughton was going to say a few words to them.

* ProductionPosse: The inhabitants of "The Slaughtered Lamb" were described by Griffin Dunne as "half the cast, practically, of ''Literature/NicholasNickleby''" (the 1980 RSC play adaptation) -- notably Lila Kaye (Gladys) played Mrs. Squeers and Mrs. Crummles and John Woodvine (Dr. Hirsch) played Ralph Nickleby. Rik Mayall, who went on to star in ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' and ''Series/{{Bottom}}'', also appears as one of the patrons.

** The policeman in Trafalgar Square who successfully manages to ignore David's volley of swear words is played by Peter Ellis, who only a few years later went on to play the regular character Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow in British LongRunner ''Series/TheBill''.
* ThrowItIn: The little strip if skin flapping about on Griffin Dunne's face when the undead Jack visits David in the hospital was kept intact in the final cut when it was found to have made Dunne's appearance far more convincing.

** The policeman in Trafalgar Square who successfully manages to ignore David's volley of swear words is played by Peter Ellis, who only a few years later went on to play the regular character Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow in British LongRunner ''Series/TheBill''.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** The cab driver is Brick Top from ''Film/{{Snatch}}''.
** The inhabitants of "The Slaughtered Lamb" were described by Griffin Dunne as "half the cast, practically, of ''[[Creator/CharlesDickens Nicholas Nickleby]]''" (the 1980 RSC play adaptation) -- notably Lila Kaye (Gladys) played Mrs. Squeers and Mrs. Crummles and John Woodvine (Dr. Hirsch) played Ralph Nickleby. Rik Mayall, who went on to star in ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' and ''Series/{{Bottom}}'', also appears as one of the patrons. Also, the lead, David Naughton, was referred to as the Dr. Pepper guy when the movie came out (he got his start in the ad that introduced the famous Dr. Pepper jingle).
*** RetroactiveRecognition: The dart player is David Schofield, who would play Mercer in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.
** The policeman in Trafalgar Square who successfully manages to ignore David's volley of swear words is played by Peter Ellis, who only a few years later went on to play the regular character Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow in British LongRunner ''Series/TheBill''.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Creator/FrankOz, the then-puppeteer of Bert, [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] (who also appears in the film) and [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]]; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''Literature/TheStepfordWives''.

* AcademyAward: Was awarded the first Oscar for Best Makeup in the year the category was established. The Oscar was presented by Creator/VincentPrice.

* {{Defictionalization}}: The Slaughtered Lamb Pub.

* TheDanza: David Naughton as David Kessler

* HeyItsThatVoice: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Creator/FrankOz, the then-puppeteer of Bert, [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] (who also appears in the film) and [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]]; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''Literature/TheStepfordWives''.
* NamesTheSame: David Kessler is portrayed by David Naughton.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' FrankOz, the then-puppeteer of Bert, [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] (who also appears in the film) and [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]]; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''Literature/TheStepfordWives''.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' FrankOz, the then-puppeteer of Bert, [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] (who also appears in the film) and [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]]; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''Literature/TheStepfordWives''.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' FrankOz, the then-puppeteer of Bert, [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] (who also appears in the film) and [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]]; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.

*** RetroactiveRecognition: The dart player is David Schofield, who would play Mercer in ''Disney/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' FrankOz, the then-puppeteer of Bert, Miss Piggy (who also appears in the film), and Yoda; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Frank Oz, the voice of Bert, Miss Piggy (who also appears in the film), and Yoda; and later director of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.

** The cab driver is Brick Top from ''Snatch''.

* AcademyAward: Was awarded the first Oscar for Best Makeup in the year the category was established. The Oscar was presented by VincentPrice.
* YouFailGeographyForever: The film presents Yorkshire and London as being fairly close together, in spite of being on opposite ends of England.

* DuelingMovies: Both this and ''TheHowling'' came out the same year and both feature a detailed, painful-looking TransformationTrauma sequence.

* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, It's That Guy!]]: The cab driver is Brick Top from ''Snatch''. The inhabitants of "The Slaughtered Lamb" were described by Griffin Dunne as "half the cast, practically, of ''[[Creator/CharlesDickens Nicholas Nickleby]]''" (the 1980 RSC play adaptation) -- notably Lila Kaye (Gladys) played Mrs. Squeers and Mrs. Crummles and John Woodvine (Dr. Hirsch) played Ralph Nickleby. Rik Mayall, who went on to star in ''TheYoungOnes'' and ''{{Bottom}}'', also appears as one of the patrons. Also, the lead, David Naughton, was referred to as the Dr. Pepper guy when the movie came out (he got his start in the ad that introduced the famous Dr. Pepper jingle).

** The policeman in Trafalgar Square who successfully manages to ignore David's volley of swear words is played by Peter Ellis, who only a few years later went on to play the regular character Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow in British LongRunner ''TheBill''.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Frank Oz, the voice of Bert, Miss Piggy (who also appears in the film), and Yoda; and later director of ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.

* YouFailGeographyForever: The film presents Yorkshire and London as being fairly close together, in spite of being on opposite ends of England.

* EnforcedMethodActing:

* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, It's That Guy!]]: The cab driver is Brick Top from ''Snatch''. The inhabitants of "The Slaughtered Lamb" were described by Griffin Dunne as "half the cast, practically, of ''[[CharlesDickens Nicholas Nickleby]]''" (the 1980 RSC play adaptation) -- notably Lila Kaye (Gladys) played Mrs. Squeers and Mrs. Crummles and John Woodvine (Dr. Hirsch) played Ralph Nickleby. Rik Mayall, who went on to star in ''TheYoungOnes'' and ''{{Bottom}}'', also appears as one of the patrons. Also, the lead, David Naughton, was referred to as the Dr. Pepper guy when the movie came out (he got his start in the ad that introduced the famous Dr. Pepper jingle).

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[Series/SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Frank Oz, the voice of Bert, Miss Piggy (who also appears in the film), and Yoda; and later director of ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Frank Oz, the voice of Bert, Miss Piggy (who also appears in the film), and Yoda; and later director of ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.

* ShoutOut:
** As Jack says of the pentangle at ''The Slaughtered Lamb'': "Universal Studios and Lon Chaney, Jr., maintained that's the mark of ''TheWolfMan!''"
** The pair also toss fictional references back and forth when they hear the howls:
---> '''David:''' [[SherlockHolmes The Hound of the Baskervilles]]?
---> '''Jack:''' [[Disney/MelodyTime Pecos Bill]]?
---> '''David:''' [[Literature/WutheringHeights Heathcliff]].
---> '''Jack:''' Heathcliff didn't howl.
---> '''David:''' No, but he was on the moors.
** ''The Curse of the Werewolf'' with Oliver Reed is also mentioned.

** And that blade the dream Nazi zombie is holding up to David's neck was a real knife, held by an actor in a mask that seriously hampered his vision. I'm betting the fear was real there.

---> '''David:''' [[WutheringHeights Heathcliff]].

* YouFailGeographyForever: Yorkshire is in the NORTH of England. London is in the SOUTH of England. Granted, England isn't exactly the biggest country in the world, but come on, there are hospitals in Northern cities, too!
** ''See also'' BritainIsOnlyLondon'', above;'' SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale'', above, and ''RedundancyDepartmentOfRedundancy.

* EnforcedMethodActing: A favorite ploy of John Landis. Extras in the zoo scene were told only that David Naughton was going to say a few words to them.

* ShoutOut: As Jack says of the pentangle at ''The Slaughtered Lamb'': "Universal Studios and Lon Chaney, Jr., maintained that's the mark of ''TheWolfMan!''"

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Mr. Collins, the American ambassador sounds exactly like [[SesameStreet Bert, the Muppet]]. That is because he ''is'' Frank Oz, the voice of Bert, Miss Piggy (who also appears in the film), and Yoda; and later director of ''LittleShopOfHorrors'' and the remake of ''TheStepfordWives''.