AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS
I could be overreacting. Many horror fans who go to this film will probably
like it, even if they saw the first one. But if you liked ...London
for its wit, chances are this one will fall flat for you as it did for me.
This story, which apparently bears no relation to its precursor, finds
three thrill-seeking American friends, Andy (Tom Everett Scott, That
Thing You Do!), Brad (Vince Vieluf), and Chris (Phil Buckman) on their
way to Paris to try the ultimate stunt: bungee-jumping off the Eiffel Tower.
But while teetering on the railing, they meet a beautiful French girl (Julie
Delpy) who is also ready to jump, but with no cord; she wants to kill herself.
And upon further investigation, the guys find that her reason for being
suicidal is not entirely unjustified: when the moon comes out, she tends
to eat people. Not only that, but she's not alone — there is a whole
society of froggie werewolves who, unlike her, want to cleanse society by
killing all the undesirables (namely, homeless and Americans).
Although some of the effects are somewhat eyebrow-raising, this film
is a rather hollow echo of the first. I'm surprised how badly the bluescreen
werewolf effects are pasted onto the backgrounds. The animatronic wolves
are really not very lifelike, and the transformation scenes (the most interesting
part) are rather glossed over. One thing about the first movie that was
extremely effective (as it was in Alien) was the fact that you never
saw the entire animal. Not so here. From early on, there are wolves
running around everywhere. And another place where this film fails to achieve
the stature of its predecessor is the humor. While ...London was
biting and witty, really funny, ...Paris is just sort of silly.
There is an attempt at humor made, with the same wisecracking of the undead,
but the writing is just not as clever this time.
The acting is not at all bad, especially on the part of Delpy, and that tends to be the film's saving grace. But if you're a big fan of the original, and not just for the blood and guts, then you may be a little disappointed. ***