Yesterday I had a session of vintage fantasy films during the quarantine, which started with the deplorable independent film, a bad low-budget production about a man-amphibian being that is fed up of fish and now wants red meat and, worse still, fresh blood. Luckily the second movie was «Belphégor, the Phantom of the Louvre», a very enjoyable French comedy-drama inspired by a detective novel from early 20th century by writer Arthur Bernede, who made films during the silent period and wrote popular novels brought to the movies, with titles like «Judex», «Mandrin», «Vidocq» and «Chantecoq».
Yes people, it's a French movie. So if you were expecting the same old "cramp it full of effects so it will be good" (NOT) hollywood production...
To many people in France, the name "Belphégor" represents one of the best and most famous novels in the horror fiction genre. Written by Arthur Bernède, "Belphégor" was an intriguing story, mix of horror, suspense and mystery, where a detective attempted to unveil the mystery behind a ghostly presence that haunted the Louvre Museum.
OK, I admit that I still associate Sophie Marceau with La Boum. That was the main reason I went to see this film.
After putting a mummy in a local museum goes through the cat-scan, a metal object in it's brain reacts adversely to the procedure, thus freeing the spirit,or phantom if you will, of the mummy, Belphegor. Due to convenient circumstances, Lisa, who lives close to the museum finds herself possessed by the evil spirit.
This was a pretty dull movie, actually. I think the problem with a French horror film, is that the French must be easy to scare or something, because this movie wasn't just that frightening.
Kind of like our version of the mummy it is about a phantom who haunts the Louvre. The writing is not that great, nor is most of the writing in films like this one in terms of hooking you into the story.
Ghost of a Mummy haunts the Louvre. The CGI ghost is not very impressive at all, and since none of the characters can actually see it, it's pretty pointless.
Step 1. forget the old B&W TV movie step 2.