Monsters On Screen: An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

The ill-received sequel to An American Werewolf in London had been in development since 1991; during that time, many writers, directors and effects artists were attached during the developement stages. When it was Freaked director and writer Tom Stern and Tim Burns were attached, they wished for Tony Gardner's Alterian and Steve Johnson's XFX to handle the werewolf effects

Bill Corso, under Johnson's supervision, sculpted a preliminary maquette for what the werewolves would look like; it was intended to resemble a big cat, as Stern felt previous werewolves were 'awkward-looking'. Like the final film, it was intended for the werewolves to be realized as a mixture of CGI and practicals; CGI for full body shots, and animatronics for close-ups. Phil Tippett was originally on-board to handle the CGI.

Ultimately, this never came to pass beyond the preliminary maquette stage; Stern and Burns were snubbed for the project, which was then passed on to Demolition Man director Marco Brambilla, who wished for a 'half-man, half-wolf' look handled by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr's Amalganated Dynamics. How much ADI made for that version before it was canned is unknown.

By the time the sequel was finally greenlit with director Anthony Waller at the helm, illustrator Peter Lloyd (responsible for designing the look of Tron) was hired as visual effects director, and responsible for designing the werewolves. The animatronic and makeup effects fell to the European FX firms Magicon and Crawley Creatures, while the digital visual effects were handled by Santa Barbara Studios.

Jez Harris supervised the makeup effects, which mostly went to the ghosts of the werewolf's victims, echoing Griffin Dunne's role in American Werewolf in London. Vince Vieluf and Julie Bowen underwent four to five hours, with Bowen undergoing six hours. The early stages of decomposition were several prosthetic pieces that had to be blended, while the last stages were one-piece masks.

A more elaborate undead makeup was made for Isabelle Constantini to wear as Serafine's late mother; despite the minimal screentime, this was a makeup applied on Constantini's face and arms.

A prosthetic makeup appliance also made for Julie Delpy to wear for her transformation into a werewolf; the makeup coated her face and upper chest, as her own body would be replaced in post-production with a CGI transforming body.

Prosthetic appliances, sculpted to appear as bulging muscles, were also made for Tom Everett Scott and bit-part performers for their own transformations shot in quick cuts.

Peter Lloyd wished to emphasize the more human aspect of the werewolves to make them look threatening and intelligent, with the bodies taking inspiration from several other animals. Lloyd was hopeful about the CGI, stating'this time it ain't a guy in a suit, but a living, breathing monster' - bitterly ironic as the CGI proved to be one of the film's most derided element.

The CGI werewolves were scanned from maquettes sculpted by Screaming Mad George, based on Lloyd's concept art; the maquettes also provided the basis of the animatronic suits used for close-up sequences.

Joachim Grueninger was supervisor for the animatronic effects, and devised a suit for the closeup shots. The werewolf suits were a 'skin' of foam rubber worn over a fibreglass skull and ribcage; the ribcage housed the animatronic receivers. The ribcage was placed on a costume fitted with padding strategically placed to give an illusion of musculature.

The animatronic receivers controlled the suit's facial expressions, but otherwise the acting was all done by the performer inside the suit. According to Grueninger, the suits weighed round about twenty-two to twenty-five kilograms, not counting the batteries!

The physical werewolf suits only went down to the waist, as any full-body shots would be in CGI. A chest prosthetic was made for Julie Delpy to wear for her transformation in a nightmare sequence; Delpy adored wearing the prosthetic, saying it felt good to see herself with chest hair!