American Werewolf in Paris

OK, so I don't know why they decided to make another movie about a Yankee college student going to a European capital and becoming a lycanthrope. But still, "An American Werewolf in Paris" definitely has its moments. Some scenes were no doubt thrown in for comic relief, like "You can't just pop up and tell me what to do." I agree with a previous reviewer that people who slam this movie are comparing it too much to "An American Werewolf in London". Maybe there's a slight feeling of that one, but you have to take this one as something new - and rather campy - to really enjoy it. Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy do a pretty cool job. But either way, I think that I've had my fill of movies about US citizens becoming lycanthropes in the Old Continent.

So what do YOU plan to do the next time that there's a full moon?

If you want a great plot, terrific special effects, good humor and characters you can really care about, rent An American Werewolf in LONDON. Stay away from this tripe.

For one thing, the supposedly high-tech special effects are terribly disappointing. Hard to believe that even though the original movie was made 14 years before this one, its SFX are actually more realistic, mostly because the transformation scenes in this movie often happen either off-camera or while the character is running behind something.

Also, the humor in the movie falls short. Granted, the "chewing gum" skit was pretty funny, but as I walked out of the theatre I was pretty ashamed of myself for laughing at such an immature joke. The Eiffel Tower scene is funny only because of its felonious breaking of the laws of physics (Uh, since the Tower spreads outward, wouldn't these bungee jumpers wind up slamming into it at some point during their fall?)

And finally, the plot is simply insulting. Even though the original movie had little more behind its story than "I'm a werewolf, oh no" that is even better than this stereotypical drivel about an anti-American punk who wants to "purify" the world from the country. If that's not bad enough, their method (luring Gen-X tourists into a club to meet their grisly deaths) is awful inefficient. And to top it off, there are numerous mentions and depictions of eating/drinking someone's heart (including a scene in which Julie Delpy sticks a human heart in a blender - yummy), none of which are suitable for anyone with a stomach.

As stated in the beginning, if you really want to see a good werewolf movie, the original 1983 film will suit you just fine. But if you rent this one, be warned: the producers and writers spent more time getting Bush to sing the theme song than they did writing the plot.

As a sequel to An American Werewolf in London, this film is sure to disappoint many. It certainly doesn't have the talent that was involved on that one. No John Landis. No David Naughton. No Jenny Agutter and other more-than-competent actors. No Rick Baker and dazzling, innovative special effects. I could go on...and on. But if one distances themselves from seeing this film as a sequel(and really it is not a sequel at all...it doesn't have any of the same characters from the first film), this film is not that bad on its own. Sure it is relying on your memories of the London film to get fannies in the seats. Yep, it uses the same character TYPES and situations(dead victims talking and being funny comes to mind quickly). Other than that and the fact that werewolves are involved(and a romance of course), I found few other similarities. This film is definitely going for more laughs and takes itself even far less serious than An American Werewolf in London. The leads...Scott and Delpy are pretty good. The rest of the actors are pretty good too, with Julie Bowen as a slutty American and the guy playing Claude particularly good. I also loved all the French police and the gentle humour inherent in every line they said. The script has some genuine scares laced throughout the picture but always comes back to the humour. French werewolves enjoying feasting on Americans was a particular funny storyline. Director Anthony Waller creates a fast-paced film with some excellent sequences interspersed with some sophomoric plot strands. By no means is this a great film, or even a great horror film/spoof, but it is a film that should grab and hold your attention. Make you jump a few times and laugh out loud now and then.

When a trio of American teens travel to Paris for a daredevil challenge they decide to bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower. During the jump Andy manages to save the life of a girl attempting suicide. However when he later tries to find her again he finds that she has something to hide. When he and his friends attend a party held by friends for hers they find they are trapped by werewolves. Andy gets bitten and becomes part of a world he wants no part of.

This is a belated sequel to the 1980's classic `American Werewolf in London' and indeed it tries very hard to be just like it - the corpse black humour, the dreams within dreams sequences etc. However the story is different as it introduces a wider werewolf conspiracy idea to the plot. It actually works quite well - it's not better than many other creature features but it works OK.

The main problem with it is that it is very much another teen horror movie - with a stupid rock soundtrack, valley girl style humour and dumb spectacle. It lacks the original's black humour and it isn't anywhere near as tense as `London'. The special effects are totally CGI and they don't work as well as `London's' - it all looks too computerised, and seeing everything takes the scare factor out of it.

In fairness when you look at it as a stand-alone film it's not so bad even though it doesn't stand out from other teenage horror movies. But a sequel to `London'? - sorry but it's not a great addition to that piece of work. Tom Everett Scott looks like he's stepped out of American Pie into a horror movie! He's OK but he doesn't compare with Dunne all those years ago. Julie Delphy is actually quite good - she doesn't have much of a character but she carries herself well. The other characters are either rough French skinheads or American teens.

Overall it's entertaining enough - but it pales terribly when compared to the original.

I enjoyed this movie. Its not in the same league as the Original (An American Werewolf in London), but fun all the same. I think a lot of the reviewers on here have gave it a bad write-up, because they were probably comparing it to the original too much.

6 out of 10 ... It's worth watching.