by Michelle Thornton
Staff Writer
The line for “An American Werewolf in Paris,” directed by Anthony Waller, wrapped around the famed Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The theater was converted into a fright fest especially for the premiere. The main entry way was clad with ghoulish looking statues, and theater employees were decked out in their scariest werewolf costumes directing the traffic that crowded “Howlywood” Boulevard.
Make-up artists strolled the lines painting bloody claw marks across the faces of those who were stuck standing in line and many were greeted by the queen of fright herself, Elvira.
Once inside and seated, viewers were entertained by Power 106 disc jockeys. They helped kick off the festivities by giving away free t-shirts and pins to promote the movie which will open in theatres everywhere on Dec. 25.
The hairy man contest was, well, hairy. Volunteers made their way to the front of the theater and bared their chests to see who had the hairiest chest. They solicited volunteers for a hairy under arm contest but had no luck getting any contestants.
Another highlight was the howling contest, where one gentleman howled for over nine seconds. Each contestant was awarded for their efforts with a free t-shirt.
As the lights dimmed and the movie began, the audience was presented with three young daredevil college graduates, (although the movie does not show any of their previous daredevil stunts) seated on a train bound for Paris.
Once they exited the train, they head straight for the Eiffel Tower for the first stunt. They scale to the top in the moonlight, so that Andy (Tom Everett Scott, “That Thing You Do”) can prepare for his bungee jump.
As he straps on his bungees, Brad (Vince Vieluf) and Chris (Phil Buckman) hear the footsteps of what will ultimately end up being the cause of many of their troubles as they parade through Paris.
This is where they meet Serafine (Julie Delpy, “Before Sunrise”), the most beautiful women that Andy has ever seen in his life, not to mention the most troubled. She is attempting to commit suicide by jumping from the tower, but noble Andy cannot stand to see his new love perish.
And here begins the search for this mystery suicide girl. The three young daredevils discover her villa and try to befriend her. Soon after their futile tries, the story behind her hesitant, reclusive attitude unravels.
The legend in the movie is that if one is bitten by a werewolf then he, too becomes one.
The only way to reverse this is to kill the beast whom a person was bitten by and eat his heart.
Although the title denotes a drama/horror genre, this movie is often scattered with comical episodes throughout which lighten the mood and allow for the truly frightening parts to be chilling and unexpected, such as the scene where Andy is attempting to befriend Serafine in a cafe.
His friends had jokingly placed a handful of condoms in his shirt pocket which come flying out across the table when Andy reaches for his handkerchief. To avoid looking like an idiot who is just trying to get this girl into bed, he tells her that it is a new American fad, chewing gum that looks like condoms.
Unlike many horror type movies this plot is realistic and not too over-exaggerated, making it very enjoyable. It is a plus when one does not comment every five minutes how unbelievable that scene was with “Yeah right, like that would ever happen” comments.
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.