6. Out In The Wild

Deep into editing, Landis screened his various cuts for colleagues and friends to judge their reaction. Among the edits he made was slicing out some footage of the tramps being killed at the junkyard in order to tone the scene down - but he's since said that he regrets making the edit.

More than one cut exists - there's an unrated version with extra blood and gore, but which is rarely seen these days.

As usual while making his films, Landis loaded it up with winks and nods to his previous work - so we get a look at See You Next Wednesday (in this case, a porn film) and even a sly Animal House mention.

Plus, while editing, the director selected a soundtrack that featured only songs with "Moon" in their title - 'Blue Moon', 'Moondance', 'Bad Moon Rising' and more. He tried to get several others, including Cat Stevens' 'Moonshadow' and Bob Dylan's cover of 'Blue Moon', but both requests were denied.

And you might notice in the credits that there's an odd note congratulating Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their wedding - made to balance the fact that during the scene that finds David trying to get arrested, he shouts "Prince Charles is gay."

Always best not to offend the queen, though we doubt it would've won a Royal Command Performance anyway.

The film finally howled into cinemas  on August 21, 1981, with wolf-frenzy slowly overtaking filmgoers.

"People didn't know how to handle the humor aspect of it," explains David Naughton. " John Landis' reputation was one of comedy director. People were expecting a spoof, or at least a lighter film, and it starts off on a light enough note.

"But as soon as we were attacked it was hang onto your seats folks, this is going to get pretty horrific. So I think that was the biggest shock. People didn't know how to review it. This isn't a spoof guys, this is John's attempt at scaring you - and he did.

"The fan reaction has grown. It wasn't a huge initial hit but, over the years, it has become one of those films that has stood the test of time and one that you-have-to-see.

"Fans continue to talk to me about how scared they were. When I go to conventions and signings somebody has to tell me where they were when they saw it, were they able to sit through it, or did they have to leave or look away, did they have to see it again because of the parts they'd missed..."

It's long become an established horror favourite. Since then, however, we've had to endure a follow-up...

Next: From Paris Without Love