An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

 

Plot: An American man unwittingly gets involved with French werewolves who have developed a serum allowing them to transform at will.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Easy to Watch But Simple Sequel

 

Story: An American Werewolf in Paris starts as we follow three American’s Andy (Scott), Brad (Vieluf) and Chris (Buckman) who are on a daredevil tour around Europe. The latest location is Paris, hence the title where Andy has planned to bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower but on that night he finds a mysterious woman Serafine (Delpy) attempting suicide which he does prevent but is left with a bad bump on the head and a show.

When Andy manages to track down Serafine he talks her into a date where we learn something isn’t completely right with Serafine who has strength unlike anyone they have seen. Andy finds himself in the middle of a pack of werewolves were Serafine is the only one trying to save him once he becomes infected with the werewolf virus when the fellow werewolves are only after purity.

An American Werewolf in Paris brings the action to Paris yes the title gives it away really. What I have watching this is that they seem to want to make a sequel that feels like it is in a franchise before its time. It actually feels like it could be a prequel to an Underworld movie because realistically this has nothing to do with the original and is just messy. The only similarity is that we have an American trying to deal with slowly turning into a werewolf. Trying to include all the of cult like side to the story overcomplicates a story which should be easy to follow.

 

Actor Review

 

Tom Everett Scott: Andy is one of three Americans on a daredevil tour when he ends up bungee jumping off the Eiffel Tower. He does this while saving Serafine and ends up getting involved with her unaware that she is in fact a werewolf and he has been bitten. Tom

Julie Delpy: Serafine is the beautiful French girl that Andy has become mesmerized by, she tries to protect him but once he gets bitten we learn that she is a werewolf that she must now prepare for the world. Julie

Vince Vieluf: Brad is one of the friends on the tour it comes off that he is closer to him than Chris but he is killed early on and spends the rest of the film haunting him. Vince

Phil Buckman: Chris is the final friend who finds himself learning the truth first while trying to warn Andy the danger he is entering into. Phil is very much just a basic support character not really appearing too much after the first quarter.

Support Cast: An American Werewolf in Paris has a supporting cast that is quite small with most characters we meet just being disposable.

Director Review: Anthony Waller – Anthony does try to give us a good follow up but it just doesn’t reach the levels of the iconic original.

 

Comedy: An American Werewolf in Paris has a few funny moments but mostly due to the idea of idiot American’s in Paris.

Horror: An American Werewolf in Paris doesn’t reach the horror levels needed for the werewolf film.

Thriller: An American Werewolf in Paris tries to keep us guessing but ends up spending too much time on explaining either a cure or how it connects to the original.

Settings: An American Werewolf in Paris uses the Paris setting for what feels like a few added cheap jokes about tourists.
Special Effects: An American Werewolf in Paris has basic effects that shows this either didn’t have the budget or the creative ability the original had in the transformation.

Suggestion: An American Werewolf in Paris is one that you watch late night on television because it is an easy watch. (Late Night TV)

 

Best Part: Ghosts look good.

Worst Part: Really cheap feeling jokes.

Funniest Scene: The first date.

 

Believability: No

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: No

Budget: $22 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Tagline: Things are about to get a little hairy.

Trivia: This was in development for 6 years.

 

Overall: Simple horror that just doesn’t have the same punch the original has.

Rating