Rick Baker’s effects work in An American Werewolf in London is unparalleled in the field of Werewolf Transformation®. Even somebody like myself, still carrying a torch for Carl Thibault’s Wolfman in Monster Squad, has to concede the transformation sequence in American is without equal.
This video, from something called Hollywood FX Masters (which was a TLC program in the 90s best as I can tell), features Baker and star David Naughton discussing the arduous process inherent with pulling a sequence like this off. It’s funny to see Naughton’s apprehension to the rigorous endeavor while Baker (sporting a mile-long ponytail) reminisces almost gleefully how difficult and painstaking it really was. Baker won an Oscar for the film thanks to incredible work like this, and it’s a credit to his craft that we’re still talking about it 30+ years later: