obsession boyfriend i'm psyched     i'm dreading enemy

(need an explanation?)

advertisements


 
 
reviews Fri May 06 05, 12:08AM

House of Wax (review)

Melted Cheese

There's a sexy figure on display throughout House of Wax, and we probably won't see its like ever again. It's the sign at a rural Florida gas station announcing that the price of gas is -- *drool* -- $1.19 a gallon. Oh, baby.

You thought I was talking about Paris Hilton's figure? Pul-eeze. I find it hard to believe anyone finds her genuinely exciting -- any appeal is more that of a fiery car wreck on the interstate, isn't it? -- but however you rate her on the sexy scale, the fact is that if a bit of mystery is vital to sexiness, she really is a bit too, ah, overexposed to qualify.


more below the ad... scroll down...


But clearly, pimping why-the-hell-is-she-famous Paris Hilton to movie audiences is a primary reason for the existence of this crass "remake" of the 1953 Vincent Price classic. And worse, someone got it into his head that this would be the perfect opportunity to satirize Hilton's notoriety at the same time it's being cashed in on. One of this gang of typical horror-movie morons has a camcorder running all the time, and what does the camcorder catch? Paris making out with her boyfriend (played by Robert Ri'chard [Coach Carter], the poor thing). Paris (apparently) giving her boyfriend a blowjob while he's driving. Paris writhing around doing a sad parody of a striptease. Paris getting impaled in the head with a wooden stake.

Oh, wait, that last one? That's the one satisfying moment of the movie. But the only thing approaching satire is how Hilton looks like she's encased in wax from the very beginning of the movie, long before she and her homies stumble upon the crazy guys who run the museum full of suspiciously realistic-looking wax figures.

Did I say "horror-movie morons"? I did, didn't I? That was something of understatement. There's your run-of-the-mill dumb, like when you lock your keys in the car or forget to mail the phone bill. There's really dumb, like robbing a bank and writing the gimme-the-money note on the back of your own deposit slip, or distributing memos to the Senate about how your party can make some political hay on a family tragedy. There's horror-movie dumb, which is when you stroll right into the rundown Gothic house at the end of the lonely road on Halloween night in the middle of a thundering rainstorm with wolves howling in the distance and shout out "Hall-ooooo! Anyone home?"

And then there's these kids, who do the equivalent of walking into that Gothic house and ignoring all the blood and rusty implements of torture in order to sit down and start psychoanalyzing themselves and their relationships with one another. It's meant to be "clever" and "original," I think, that twins Carly (Elisha Cuthbert: Love Actually, Old School) and Nick (Chad Michael Murray: Freaky Friday) have to unravel their contentious relationship -- "Mom always liked you better," that kind of stuff -- while also fighting off the twin psychos (Brian Van Holt: Man of the House, S.W.A.T., as both brothers) who run the museum and enjoy imprisoning still-alive people in wax. Twin screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes pretty much ignored Charles Belden's script for the 1953 flick in order to work out some of their own issues, though not at all well, it is important to stress. The more these kids talk about themselves and their problems, the more tedious it all gets, and the more we want them to die.

Actually, almost every line uttered by Paris Hilton ends up being a mini review of the film: "I'm gonna throw up." "Oh my god I hate you." "Put down that camera." Though I have no doubt that those instances of satire are entirely unintentional. They don't make the film worth watching, though. If you really must, you can see Paris's other movie online for free, anyway.

viewed at a semipublic screening with an audience of critics and ordinary moviegoers
rated R for horror violence, some sexual content and language
official site | IMDB


who I am


I'm MaryAnn Johanson: writer and ponderer in New York City who drinks too much wine and thinks way too much about such inconsequences as movies, TV, books, and the meaning of life.
[email me]

• contributor, Film.com
• member, Online Film Critics Society
• member, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
• member, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
• visit my scratchpad blog, MaryAnnJohanson.com
• read my Doctor Who fan fiction

photo by David Speranza

(postings feed)

Add to Technorati Favorites

monthly archives

recent screenings and hot movies

just opened
red for no Babylon A.D.
green for go Traitor
green for go Hamlet 2
red for no Sukiyaki Western Django
box office top 5
green for go Tropic Thunder
red for no Babylon A.D.
green for go The Dark Knight
red for no The House Bunny
green for go Traitor
top limited releases
yellow for maybe Vicky Cristina Barcelona
red for no Fly Me to the Moon
Elegy
green for go Bottle Shock
Tell No One
coming soon
green for go Happy-Go-Lucky
red for no The Women
green for go Battle for Seattle
green for go Mister Foe
green for go Flow
yellow for maybe Hounddog
green for go The Perfect Game
yellow for maybe A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
now playing
green for go Hamlet 2
red for no Death Race
green for go Star Wars: The Clone Wars
green for go Frozen River
red for no The Last Mistress
green for go The Rocker
green for go I.O.U.S.A.
green for go Trouble the Water
red for no Henry Poole Is Here
red for no Brideshead Revisited
red for no Pineapple Express
red for no Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
red for no The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
red for no The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
green for go Step Brothers
green for go American Teen
green for go Wall-E

2008 screening log

new on dvd

09.02
yellow for maybe Married Life [buy]
red for no The Sensation of Sight [buy]
green for go Ballet Shoes [buy]
green for go Monster Camp [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Invasion of Time [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Invisible Enemy [buy]
08.26
green for go Chicago 10 [buy]
green for go Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? [buy]
green for go Gypsy Caravan, When the Road Bends [buy]
yellow for maybe August [buy]
red for no Redbelt [buy]
red for no Postal [buy]
green for go Alfresco [buy]
green for go Heroes: Season Two [buy]
green for go The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector's Edition [buy]
green for go Brotherhood of the Wolf: Director's Cut Two-Disc Special Edition [buy]
08.19
green for go Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day [buy]
green for go Street Kings [buy]
green for go Recount [buy]
green for go The Proposition [buy]
green for go Television Under the Swastika [buy]
green for go Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 1 [buy]
green for go House: Season Four [buy]
green for go House: Seasons 1-4 Collection [buy]

advertisements

search

Google
flickfilosopher.com
web