GORY, CLICHED `WEREWOLF' BITES.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Daily News Staff Writer There's a very fine line in moviemaking mov·ie·mak·er n. One that makes movies, especially professionally. mov  ie·mak between what's ``camp'' and what's just plain bad. ``An American Werewolf werewolf: see lycanthropy. werewolf In European folklore, a man who changes into a wolf at night and devours animals, people, or corpses, returning to human form by day. in Paris'' teeters on that line and all too frequently missteps to the wrong side. Its biggest problems are cliches, numbing gore, overmechanized werewolves and a leading lady who apparently wasn't told she could go for the humor. The film resurrects the 1981 ``An American Werewolf in London,'' directed by John Landis and starring former Dr. Pepper pitchman and now Mercedes-Benz huckster David Naughton and hairy puppets designed by Rick Baker. In this version, three close buddies (Tom Everett Scott, Vince Vieluf and Phil Buckman) are traipsing across Europe on what they call a daredevil tour, hearts pumped with adrenaline and pockets packed with condoms. Andy (Scott) is heading into Paris with a major point deficit, according to his score-keeping pals, and he intends to make up for it when they arrive in the City of Light. His grandiose stunt is bungee-jumping off the Eiffel Tower after the landmark is closed for the night. While setting up, the trio encounters a troubled young woman (Julie Delpy) who appears ready to end it all by taking the same plunge without the bungee. Andy gallantly saves her by grabbing her ankle after she goes over the edge. He sets her down safely on the grass and then springs skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky wards adv. , bonking For other uses of this term, see .Bonking is a card game for 4 persons that is played with one deck of cards. Everyone plays for themselves. In total 11 rounds are played, in which every round has its own goal. The goal of the game is to score as many points as possible. his head on a beam (surprise) on the way back to the platform. The young hero becomes obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with finding the woman and talking her out of trying suicide again. He tracks down Serafine (Delpy) at her home, and even after she answers the door with blood on her hands and tries to send him away, he thinks this chick is worth seeing again. (Cliche No. 1: Hero wouldn't recognize or heed a warning if it hit him upside the head with a brick.) Andy and buddies Chris (Buckman) and Brad (Vieluf) accept an invitation from Serafine's friend to attend a full-moon party at an underground (literally) club. Serafine learns they are there and tries unsuccessfully to get them out. In the first of many bloodbaths, Andy is bitten and Brad nearly devoured by werewolves. Brad becomes a zombie A computer that has been covertly taken over in order to perform some nefarious task. It is estimated that millions of PCs around the world have been compromised and, under the control of a third party, routinely transmit messages unbeknownst to the user. and Andy develops a taste for very rare steaks. The Parisian werewolves were computer-generated by John Grower's Santa Barbara Studios, which allowed for full-body animation unlike the limited angles of the puppets in the ``London'' movie. But the creatures' movements are stilted stilt·ed adj. 1. Stiffly or artificially formal; stiff. 2. Architecture Having some vertical length between the impost and the beginning of the curve. Used of an arch. , and their habit of leaping out of pitch-black catacombs - always foreshadowed by panting panting rapid, shallow breathing, a characteristic heat-losing reaction in dogs; represents an increase in dead-space ventilation resulting in heat loss without necessarily increasing oxygen uptake or carbon dioxide loss. and snorting 'snorting' Substance abuse A popular method for consuming cocaine and opiates–one nostril is held closed, the other inhales pulverized cocaine. See Cocaine, Crack. - is predictable by the second lunge, so it's unlikely there will be much shrieking or repeated clutching of boyfriends' thighs. (Isn't that what sells tickets to teen-agers?) Scott, best known for his role as the drummer in ``That Thing You Do!'' plays wide-eyed Andy for sympathy and laughs. But he is saddled with some of the more unfortunate lines in the script, such as ``I'd rather die,'' which he has to utter twice, both times to known werewolves. With a death wish like that, it's a wonder he survives to the final reel. There is good comic relief from Andy's undead un·dead adj. No longer living but supernaturally animated, as a zombie. pal Brad and from his first victim, a loose, drunken blond American named Amy (Julie Bowen of ``Happy Gilmore'') who gets done in at the famed Pere-Lachaise Cemetery after having sex on Jim Morrison's grave. But director Anthony Waller failed to let Delpy in on the joke. Waller and writing partners Tim Burns and Tom Stern gave her little to work with to lighten her role, and she was unable to muster any humor from between the lines Between the lines can refer to:
THE FACTS The film: ``An American Werewolf in Paris'' (R). The stars: Tom Everett Scott, Julie Delpy, Vince Vieluf, Phil Buckman, Julie Bowen and Pierre Cosso. Behind the scenes: Directed by Anthony Waller. Produced by Richard Claus. Written by Waller, Tim Burns and Tom Stern. Released by Buena Vista Pictures. Running time: One hour, 40 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Two Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO In the Paris catacombs, Andy (Tom Everett Scott) and his new love, Serafine (Julie Delpy) are about to get a horrible surprise. |
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