Day Forty-Nine: An American Werewolf in Paris

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS

Starring:
-Tom Everett Scott
-Julie Delpy
-Vince Vieluf
-Phil Buckman
-Julie Bowen

Directed by: Anthony Waller

Screenplay Credits: Tim Burns & Tom Stern & Anthony Waller

MPAA Rating: R – werewolf violence/gore and for some sexuality/nudity

The only other time I have ever seen this movie was when my friend Miranda showed it to me. We were in sixth grade, and I remember thinking it was the worst movie I have ever seen. Yet, I also recall being oddly fascinated. Perhaps this was because I had not yet been indoctrinated into the world of crazy slasher thrillers, or maybe it was because I had taste.

These three idiot college dudes are on their “daredevil tour” of Europe. They break into the Eiffel tour after hours and climb all the way to the top. Here, Andy (Scott) decides to tie a rope around his ankle and do a little base-jumping. They hear a noise and it’s a beautiful woman who has come to kill herself. Andy saves her, she runs off, and he has to track her down. He learns that she’s mysterious, possesses great strength, and oh yeah, she’s a werewolf.

She doesn’t come out and say it, but they kind of figure it out when she and all her friends turn into werewolves and start eating people.

One of Andy’s friends discovers an amputee werewolf chained up in Seraphine’s cellar, and the other one gets his throat ripped out in the sewer.

Andy wakes up in fresh linens and a nicely decorated room. He’s in Seraphine’s house, and she’s in the kitchen making a blood smoothie. Here’s the Reader’s Digest Version: Andy is a werewolf now. He kills a couple of people and he has to make amends for this or their spirits will be doomed to walk the earth as the undead for all eternity. Bummer, right? With Seraphine’s help, he takes down the evil werewolves, then the two of them become human again, get married, and base-jump off the Statue of Liberty’s torch.


The dialogue is…not great. In some scenes it can only be described as awesomely bad. The concept, however, is not terrible. I liked all the interactions with the gruesomely made up undead people and would have enjoyed more. Of course, I probably just enjoyed them because they looked like zombies.

You can certainly tell that this film was written by men because of the gross-out humor and the boobs. Still, it could have been a lot worse. It was wacky and unusual and it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen, so I’m giving it a strong C. This would be a good movie for a rainy day when you want to curl up, waste a little time, and listen to people scream.


FINAL GRADE: C

Off in search of my lycanthropic cycle,

M.