Werewolf movies have been a staple of Hollywood film making for decades. From an early 1913 silent short, "The Werewolf," to arguably the best version, 1941's "The Wolf Man" (featuring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi) and through both Michael Landon ("I Was A Teenage Werewolf") and Michael J. Fox ("Teen Wolf"), audiences have been frightened or amused by the full moon transformation. The problem for most of the movies, however, was that the transformation always looked faked. A variety of camera tricks were used to change man into beast, but it almost always looked hokey (although at the time some of those tricks were amazing to behold).
Then in 1981 along came "An American Werewolf in London," a hip retelling of the classic story that used tremendous groundbreaking special effects. Director John Landis wanted to update the genre with a touch of black humor and the results were a fun mix of frights and laughs. A cult classic, the film won a Best Makeup Academy Award for Rick Baker's werewolf effects where audiences saw a real-time transformation for the first time.
Now sixteen years later, the "sequel" finally arrives. Baker's inflatable masks and costumes have been mostly replaced by computer generated effects, the setting has been moved to Paris, and the quality has greatly diminished. Essentially yanking the plot from the original and adding in a few, unimaginative changes, this is clearly a "B" movie. Unfortunately, it's not a bad enough "B" movie to rate it as one of the "best" where it actually becomes fun due to its awfulness.
At least the first film had Landis as its director. While he's certainly no David Lean (the director of "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" for those who didn't get the reference), he's made a few decent movies ("Trading Places") and at least has a lot of experience making mainstream films. For this film we get Anthony Waller, the acclaimed director of 1994's Award Winning "Mute Witness." (Please note the sarcasm) Added to this feature's impressive team are writers Tim Burns (of 1994's "Freaked" fame) and Tom Sturn (who directed "Freaked"). With an impressive array of talent like that, how can you not be surprised by how this film turned out? (Yes, even more sarcasm).
Whereas Landis delivered a clever, imaginative take on the genre, these guys have dished up a heaping of cold seconds that look like the original, but certainly don't taste as good. It's not so bad right from the get-go, however, and there's a fun sequence where the main character bungee jumps from the Eiffel Tower to save a suicidal woman. A few of the initial characters are fun, but once Waller begins regurgitating material from the original, all of the fun quickly evaporates. Sure, I understand most sequels copy material from the first film, but it certainly doesn't mean they're good just for doing so.
Tom Everett Scott, who made such an impressive film debut in 1996's "That Thing You Do," must be embarrassed by following up that decent film with this piece of flotsam. One can only hope that appearing in this film was a contractual obligation he couldn't get out of, or at least wasn't a conscious, informed decision. While he has a few funny moments, he's essentially playing Guy Patterson as if the Oneders rock and roll tour were visiting Paris where he gets bitten by a werewolf (this film even includes a scene straight out of the first movie where Scott wears sunglasses indoors to be "cool").
The rest of the cast is made up of a wide assortment of unknown performers who've appeared in bit parts or other "B" movies. Delivering what's normally expected in such a film, their performances are quickly forgotten once the end credits roll. The "B" movie status is further strengthened by moments such as when Serafine tells Andy, "Ease my pain -- eat my heart," where you'll hardly be able to restrain yourself from howling at the screen. Added to that is an inane subplot about a group of werewolves who want to organize into a "superior race" of such creatures, and the often sloppy film making and the low budget appearance. While the creature special effects are okay, they often don't matte (seamlessly fit) into their backgrounds, as thus lose most of their impact.
Whereas the first film had some genuinely spooky moments, this one is rather bland and has substituted a nonstop alternative/rock music soundtrack for most of the more traditional chords of scary music. While this film will probably appeal and somewhat entertain its core audience of male teenagers, it won't gain anything of a crossover audience and certainly won't rake in the bucks like the recent "Scream 2" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer." If you're looking for a fun, imaginative take on the traditional werewolf movie, go back and rent the original 1981 film. It's better in every way than this lame, bland sequel. We give "An American Werewolf in Paris" a 2 out of 10.
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