An American Werewolf in Paris

An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

Runtime: 98 long minutes

Directed by: Anthony Waller

Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Julie Delpy, and a bunch of no-names

From: Hollywood Pictures

Even worse than what I was expecting.

Last night, I revisited An American Werewolf in London (while I didn’t write my best review when I rated the film back in 2017, a new one won’t be posted); now there’s a very good motion picture which not only delivered the scares and the laughs, but I cared about the relationship between David and Alex as the time spent w/ the ill-fated European traveler and his London nurse was worthwhile and thus it wasn’t an issue that the all-timer transformation scene was almost an hour into the picture. The viewer sincerely hopes that David Naughton will be Makin’ It…

Both that and this are on Prime; that spurned me to finally view Paris—a film avoided due to all the bad buzz ever since its release. Curiosity got the best of me, and wow was the movie bad. Three self-admitted American thrill-seeking douchebags travel to Paris; Tom Everett Scott saves Julie Delpy from an Eiffel Tower suicide jump via bungee jumping (don’t ask; it also looks horrendous yet it’s not the worst effect in the movie by any regard) and well, she’s a werewolf. Its connection w/ London solely consists of ripping off several ideas, only done as a pale imitation.

The story is lame (the “clan” of werewolves present have a world domination plot!) & aside from a few chuckles the “humor” was embarrassing/cringe-worthy instead of funny. Some director choices (such as cinematography that at times is totally blown out) was certainly a choice. The new lore they have for werewolves doesn’t work either. However, the biggest blight on the picture: the CG. Due to technological limitations most of it from this era has aged like milk. In Paris, it is offensively bad—and as plenty of lycanthropes are seen, the viewer gets the “treat” of viewing those visuals often.

Even on its own, An American Werewolf in Paris is a terrible 90’s horror movie. If you’re like me and view it immediately after London, the sequel is just insulting to everyone involved w/ the original. Heck, it’s even insulting to the grave of Jim Morrison-again, please don’t ask. It fails at everything, from missing the blending of humor & horror to sympathy for the leads to totally wasting the talents of Delpy. Never again will I subject myself to this misery.