An American Werewolf in Paris

I've never heard much good about 1997's AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS, the belated sort-of sequel to 1981's AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.  The latter is probably the best melding of horror and humor of its time.  Writer/director John Landis perfectly embodied scares and wit, punctuated with startling werewolf transformation scenes and well selected songs.  Co-writer/director Anthony Waller, who didn't exactly impress with MUTE WITNESS, contributes another career killing misfire whose attempts at a foreboding atmosphere are defeated by lame comedy, CGIed werewolves that look like Playstation trolls, and, put politely, undistinguished tunes by the likes of Smash Mouth and Bush.  It seems I put off watching this with good reason.  My expectations were l o w, but geez, guys! 

The opening scene, featuring the attack of a man by an unseen assailant emerging from a manhole, bristles with a jangly energy that promises a better movie than what transpires.  If there is anything positive to say, Waller does exhibit some skill as a director of swift action, also seen later when terrified passengers on the Metro flee one of those CGI dogs.  We meet our protagonist, an American named Andy McDermott (Tom Everett Scott) and his buddies Brad (Vince Vieluf) and Chris (Phil Buckman), whose dialogue reeks of teen sex comedy.  Scott, while looking the part, will deliver a poor performance throughout this movie, making David Naughton (from the original) seem like a master thespian by comparison.

The guys sneak onto the Eiffel Tower for an after hours bungee jump (they're "Daredevils", you see).  Then a young Parisian woman named Serafine (Julie Delpy) shows up with suicide on her mind.  She leaps, but Andy follows and rescues her.  Following recovery in the hospital, he will eventually track her down, curious as to why she has blood on her hands when she answers the door.  She likes this Yank but tries to push him away, 'cos she's a werewolf and all.   Andy will learn the truth after he gets bitten at a rave held by Claude (Pierre Cosso), leader of a secret werewolf society and mastermind of a nefarious plot to take over mankind.  A serum that can induce werewolf transformations is the catalyst.  No full moons necessary.

The plot of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS gets convoluted and confused, leaving numerous things unexplained and contradicted.  The original film kept it simple and was all the more effective for it - if you become a werewolf, you must feed or die.  The tragic elements were potent.  Here, we feel nothing for these poorly defined characters and the scenario just gets more disorganized by the minute.  Waller's frantic direction is no help, and the awful computer effects keep the viewer from any emotional connection.  In ....LONDON, Rick Baker's hairy beast looked plausible, and we knew there was a poor innocent within.  Here, there are several lycanthropes who possess no interest and are only servicing the plot.

Shoutouts to the '81 movie? Yes, including dream sequences/hallucinations and the appearance of the undead who come back to haunt Andy.  I do have to admit that Julie Bowen is fun as a dim witted American party girl; she does some amusing stuff after her untimely demise.  Her attempts at whistling did make me laugh.

Delpy took this movie for the paycheck.  Her performance is pretty good and certainly committed, though most viewers surely got more out of her work in the BEFORE movies.  AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS is only, repeat only for the curious.  It is an insult to Landis' film and yet another annoyingly ineffectual '90s product.  Even the Cake song (itself a remake) played during the end credits is sub par.