Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre (2001)

At the Louvre museum in Paris, the phantom Belphegor wakes up and causes electrical havoc. Night guards at the museum start dying and Lisa gets possessed. Martin tries to help the cute Lisa.

Director:

Jean-Paul Salomé

Writers:

Arthur Bernède (novel), Jean-Paul Salomé

Stars:

Sophie Marceau, Michel Serrault, Frédéric Diefenthal

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sophie Marceau	...	Lisa / Belphégor
Michel Serrault	...	Verlac
Frédéric Diefenthal	...	Martin
Julie Christie	...	Glenda Spender
Jean-François Balmer	...	Bertrand Faussier
Patachou	...	Geneviève
Lionel Abelanski	...	Simonnet
Françoise Lépine	...	Suzanne Dupré
François Levantal	...	Mangin
Jacques Martial	...	Félix
Philippe Maymat	...	Bob
Pierre Aussedat	...	Pierre Desfontaines
Matteo Vallon	...	Cemetary employee
Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat	...	Cemetary warden
Juliette Gréco	...	Woman in the cemetary

Storyline

A collection of artifacts from an archeological dig in Egypt are brought to the famous Louvre museum in Paris, and while experts are using a laser scanning device to determine the age of a sarcophagus, a ghostly spirit escapes and makes its way into the museum's electrical system. Museum curator Faussier (Jean-Francois Balmer) brings in a noted Egyptologist, Glenda Spencer, to examine the findings, and she announces that the mummy inside the coffin was actually the evil spirit Belphegor. Lisa, who lives across the street from the museum, follows her runaway cat into the museum after closing time, where she is accidentally given a shock that sends 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 is brought out of retirement to find out why the ...

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Plot Keywords:

museum | egyptian | evil spirit | louvre museum | sarcophagus | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 April 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre

Filming Locations:

Metro Vaneau, Paris 7, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 105,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Alain Sarde, TF1 Films Production, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Juliette Gréco's appearance is a nod to her leading role in the popular 1965 television adaptation of Arthur Bernède's novel, Belphegor (1965).

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Crazy Credits

After the music credits: "This music participates to the endangered pharaonic instrument: EL ARGHOULE." The credits acknowledge an "el arghoule" player.

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Connections

Version of Belphegor (1965)

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Soundtracks

California Dreamin'
Written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips
Performed by The Mamas and the Papas

User Reviews

Ridiculous!

It´s all my fault. They all told me I should avoid seeing this movie because I´m a huge fan of the old TV-series. They were right. While production values are good and the actors themselves (including "don´t look now") Julie Christie aren´t that bad, the whole film displays a cheekiness and self-conciousness that clearly is without any justification. A comparison between the Karloff "Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns 2000" comes to my mind. In fact Belphegore 2000 owes much more to the new Mummy films than to the old series. But then, scripting is terrible, speed there is none and sometimes the film is full of unintentional jokes (The first scene in the tomb looks plain stupid), with cats clearly being thrown when they´re supposed to jump (landing with their backfeet first). Belphegore moves around like a statue on wheels neither impressive nor scary and the psychological drama that unfolded in the old tv series when the heroine had to learn that she´s a villain is completely neglected. This movie is so WASTED (wasted money, wasted actors, wasted blueprint) that it hurts. It´s a below-par Mummy-rip off that´s only good for some laughs but has nothing at all to do with the Greco classic (She has a small role in this movie too - on the graveyard).