Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily Entertainment GuideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Back
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro
Griffin Dunne and David Naughton in An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Parents guide

An American Werewolf in London

Content rating

  • Sex & Nudity:
    Moderate
  • Violence & Gore:
    Severe
  • Profanity:
    Moderate
  • Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking:
    Mild
  • Frightening & Intense Scenes:
    Severe

Sex & Nudity

Moderate
103 of 250 found this moderate
There's a scene in a porn theater with breasts shown for several seconds.
A couple shower together and roll around in bed, it's clear from the context that they have sex. Brief nudity is shown.

Violence & Gore

Severe
117 of 142 found this severe
The famous transformation scene is entirely onscreen, and although not gory, is very gross and disturbing.
A man is mauled to death by a werewolf, and his body is then shown covered in blood.
A man's face is scratched by a werewolf, producing some blood.
In a dream sequence, a man mauls and kills a deer, he then bites a chunk of flesh from it.
In a rather bizzare sequence, a man has a nightmare where he and his family are massacred by werewolf-like monsters in Nazi uniforms. Everyone is shot with machine guns (mostly offscreen), and he has his throat slit with some graphic detail seen briefly. Then, a nurse is stabbed to death with lots of blood seen, albeit very briefly.
A policeman runs inside of an adult cinema to find a werewolf eating a corpse. Lots of blood, and you can even see his intestines on the ground. It's still very brief and darkly lit.
In the film's finale, chaos ensues and there is death scene after death scene. Firstly, a man is decapitated by a werewolf, and his head is Sean flying through the air. The werewolf runs through the streets, causing numerous vehicle collisions. People are run over, sent flying out of cars, vehicles crash into each other, etc. Although some deaths can be bloody, most of them appear for a very brief time (some show up for less than a second).
David meets up with, and casually converses with his undead victims in an adult cinema. They are seen with blood all over them and skin missing.

Profanity

Moderate
78 of 123 found this moderate
One use of cunt, out of desperation and just to cause offence rather than aimed as a personal insult.
8 uses of "fuck", 10 uses of "shit", 4 uses of "hell", 3 uses of "ass" (2 paired with "hole"), 1 use of "goddamn", 3 uses of "Jesus", 2 uses of "Jesus Christ", 2 uses of "For Christ's sake", 1 use of "Mary, mother of God", 1 use of "Faggot".

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

Mild
83 of 108 found this mild
Adults are seen drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, mostly in the same place.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

Severe
94 of 130 found this severe
The transformation can be disturbing.
While there is lots of over-the-top comedy in the film, there's plenty of frightening moments to go along with them.
The werewolf attacks are infrequent, but for the most part very intense. The werewolf itself is one the most frightening looking wolf monsters seen on film to this day.
The dream sequences become increasingly scary or disturbing.
The transformation sequence is quite eerie, mostly due to the breathtaking animatronics and makeup.
A man is chased through a subway corridor, which builds up tension.
The car crash sequence at the end of the film is also intense.

Certifications

Edit
  • Argentina
    • 18original rating
    • 16re-rating
  • Australia
    • MA15+
    • R18+iTunes
    • Moriginal rating
    • MA2001, re-rating
  • Brazil
    • 14original rating, withdrawn
    • 162025, re-rating
  • Canada
    • 14AAlberta
    • 18ABritish Columbia
    • 18ACanadian Home Video rating
    • RManitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario
    • 13+Québec
    • 18ASuper Channel airing
  • Chile
    • 14
  • Denmark
    • 15
  • Finland
    • K-18original rating
    • K-162016, re-rating
  • France
    • 12new rating
    • 13original rating
  • Hong Kong
    • II
    • IIBre-rating
  • Iceland
    • 16
  • India
    • Aoriginal rating
    • UAre-rating
  • Ireland
    • 18original rating
    • 152016, re-rating
  • Israel
    • 18self-applied
  • Italy
    • VM18
    • VM14Google Play
  • Japan
    • R18+
  • Mexico
    • C
  • Netherlands
    • 16
  • New Zealand
    • R16
  • Norway
    • 15VOD
    • 18cinema rating
  • Peru
    • 18
  • Philippines
    • R-18self-applied
  • Poland
    • 16self-applied
  • Russia
    • 18+
  • Singapore
    • R21
  • South Africa
    • 162009
  • South Korea
    • 182002
  • Spain
    • 16original rating
    • 131983, re-rating
  • Sweden
    • 15
  • United Kingdom
    • 15
    • Xoriginal rating
    • 152009, re-rating
    • 181986, re-rating

More from this title

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb app
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb app
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb app
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.