Belphegor: The Phantom Of The Louvre DVD Review

Construction at the Louvre causes the rediscovery of an Egyptian sarcophagus, previously lost within the collection in Belphegor Phantom of the Louvre. A prologue depicts the discovery of the sarcophagus as well as the ill fated transportation crew, all of whom perished in an apparent murder/suicide instigated by the ship captain. Now 60 years later, museum scientists are like kids in a candy store with this artifact.

The museum Egyptologist begins investigating the artifact, using a laser scanning machine to determine the age of the sarcophagus, which causes a ghostly spirit to escape, utilizing the museum electrical system to cause blackouts.

As the Egyptologist further investigates the sarcophagus, she determines that the mummy is actually the home of the evil spirit Belphegor, an ancient demon believed to help make discoveries, creating wealth but eventually leading to a transition to evil.

Meanwhile, across the street from the Louvre, Lisa (Sophie Marceau, Lost and Found, The World is Not Enough) mourns the recent death of her grandmother. After the Louvre construction knocks out her power yet again, Lisa discovers a whole in the basement that connects to a Louvre tunnel. She chases her cat into the closed museum where she encounters and is catches the eye of Belphegor. Soon a masked entity, in a burial costume similar to that of the ancients, including a bronze mask, begins to ransack the museum, taking the artifacts it believes belongs to him, while killing any guard who gets in the way.

Much like Hollywood seems to be going through the trend of remaking old television shows like Starsky and Hutch, Dukes of Hazzard and son on, Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre is the film version of the 1965 French television series, Belphégor ou Le fantôme du Louvre. If it is not a direct remake, the film draws a great deal from the series. The Belphegor burial costume is a direct recreation from the show.

The film, Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre is neither stands out as being outstanding or being awful. The graphics, particularly the flying spirit of Belphegor, looks dates and cheesy compared to the quality visual effects that appear in contemporary movies, but then again, they are seven years old now. Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre would be a fun and interesting way for someone learning French to immerse themselves into the language for 90 minutes, especially for a child learning French, the content and language is very mild while being fun and engaging.

Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre on DVD includes the film, presented in widescreen and featuring a 5.1 stereo surround soundtrack. The DVD release includes a 5.1 French soundtrack, the native language of the film, and one of the best dubbed 5.1 English soundtracks to appear in the movie. The dubbed English version either employed the actors to redo their lines in English, or someone has found actors who sound almost identical to the actual actors, Sophie Marceau and Julie Christie are both capable English speakers. The DVD is otherwise devoid of special features.