obsession boyfriend i'm psyched     i'm dreading enemy

(need an explanation?)

advertisements


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
yellow for maybe Diminished Capacity
yellow for maybe The Wackness
green for go Hancock
green for go Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
box office top 5
green for go Wall-E
green for go Wanted
yellow for maybe Get Smart
green for go Kung Fu Panda
green for go The Incredible Hulk
top limited releases
green for go Mongol
green for go The Visitor
When Did You Last See Your Father?
green for go Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Then She Found Me
coming soon
green for go Man on Wire
yellow for maybe Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
red for no Harold
yellow for maybe Hellboy II: The Golden Army
red for no Fly Me to the Moon
yellow for maybe A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
now playing
red for no The Love Guru
red for no The Happening
yellow for maybe You Don't Mess With the Zohan
green for go Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
green for go The Fall
green for go Young@Heart
yellow for maybe Quid Pro Quo
red for no Sex and the City: The Movie
red for no The Strangers
green for go Dreams With Sharp Teeth
green for go Iron Man
green for go The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008 screening log

advertisements

search

Google
flickfilosopher.com
web
Powered by
Movable Type 3.36