Based on the popular twenties pulp tale "Belphegor" by Arthur Bernede, this "liberal" adaptation of the basic story has been updated with average digital effects and an all-star cast. Diefenthal, better known as the good-hearted cop in Luc Besson's "Taxi" series, plays Sophie Marceau's love interest, and veteran Michel Serrault is the sole witness to the spirit's early museum appearance, several decades earlier. Back to put an end to the rampant hauntings once and for all, Serrault is also diverted by perky Egyptologist Julie Christie (in a generally minor role).

TVA's DVD contains an excellent transfer of the film, with deep blacks and rich colours for the Paris locations and Middle Eastern hoodoo. The disc includes a typically cartoonish English dub track (though Marceau and Christie provide their own voices), and the standard English 2.0 surround mix pales when stacked against the more aggressive French 5.1 mix, itself benefitting from a bass-friendly score by Bruno Coulais. Julie Christie also performs her lines in comprehensible French, although regrettably, there's no English subtitle track. (A Korean DVD, minus the TVA goodies, does contain English subtitles.)

An excellent making-of featurette (in French only) covers the film's cinematography, casting (with Christie's English interview responses subtitled in French), exceptional set design, and the wide use of the Louvre. (The main titles, incidentally, also incorporate archival footage of the immense glass pyramid's construction.)

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© 2002 Mark R. Hasan