Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre

Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre (French: Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre) is a 2001 French fantasy film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. It stars Sophie Marceau, Michel Serrault, Frédéric Diefenthal, and Julie Christie.[2] It was written by Salomé, Danièle Thompson, and Jérôme Tonnerre. The 2001 film is about a mummy's spirit that possesses a woman (Marceau) in the Louvre. Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre was filmed on location at the Musée du Louvre, the first feature film to be shot in part inside the world-famous museum.[3]

For other uses of "Belphegor", see Belphegor (disambiguation).
Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean-Paul Salomé
Written byJean-Paul Salomé
Danièle Thompson
Jérôme Tonnerre
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJean-François Robin
Edited bySuzy Elmiger
Music byBruno Coulais
Distributed byBAC Films
Release date
  • 4 April 2001 (2001-04-04) (France)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
BudgetFRF105,000,000 (estimated)
Box officeEurope Admissions : 3,783,892 [1]

Source material

This adaptation was loosely based upon the 1927 Arthur Bernède horror novel Belphégor, which had appeared in concert with a film serial version of the story. A television miniseries had appeared in 1965.

Plot

A rare collection of artifacts from an archeological dig in Egypt are brought to the famous Musée du Louvre in Paris. While experts are using a laser scanning device to determine the age of a sarcophagus, a spirit escapes and makes its way into the museum's electrical system. Museum curator Faussier (Jean-Francois Balmer) brings in noted Egyptologist, Glenda Spencer (Julie Christie), to examine the findings, and she announces that the mummy inside the coffin was actually the evil spirit Belphegor.

Meanwhile, Lisa (Sophie Marceau), a young woman who lives across the street from the museum, follows her runaway cat into the Louvre after closing time. She accidentally receives an electrical shock that transfers the stray spirit into her body. Soon Lisa is disguising herself as Belphegor and making off with the rare Egyptian treasures on display at the museum, convinced that they are rightfully hers. When Belphegor proves more than a match for the Louvre's security forces, renowned detective Verlac (Michel Serrault) is brought out of retirement to find out why the museum's Egyptian collection has been shrinking.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Critical reception for Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre has been mostly negative. Justin Felix from DVD Talk gave the film a mixed two and a half out of five stars, writing, "Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre is modestly entertaining, despite some very familiar plot elements and so-so CGI work."[4] Chris Parry from eFilmCritic awarded the film two out of five stars, panning the film's acting, special effects, screenplay, and familiar premise.[5] Steve Barton from Dread Central rated the film two and a half out of five stars, writing, "For all that it has going for it in the acting department, Belphégor Phantom of the Louvre comes up on the short side of the fence nearly everywhere else. It's a decent little time killer, but you'll ultimately start forgetting about it even before the end credits run."[6]

References
  1. "Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre (2001) - JPBox-Office".
  2. "Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  3. Deming, Mark. "Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre". Allmovie. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  4. Felix, Justin. "Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk.com. Justin Felix. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  5. Parry, Chris. "Movie Review - Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre - eFilmCritic". eFIlmCritic.com. Chris Parry. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  6. Barton, Steve (13 August 2008). "Belphégor Phantom of the Louvre (DVD) - Dread Central". Dread Central.com. Steve Barton. Retrieved 6 April 2019.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.