© Pierre Maré,
2004 - 2007
Offbeat 70
I prefer video to DVD. Aside from the fact that a video without trailers is the exception rather than the rule, the fast forward on the video machine means you can still see what is happening while you are fast-forwarding. DVD produces a series of jerky snapshots and it is hard to see what is happening.
I often watch movies in fast forward. Having discovered Joseph Campbell’s book, ‘The Heroes Journey’, on archetypes and how they fit stories, it feels as if Hollywood can no longer produce original ideas, so why waste too much time?
Last night I watched ‘House of Wax’ in half an hour. Why did I want to watch ‘House of Wax’ in the first place? I am a horror fan. Here is what I saw.
Kids in cars. Kids camping. Presentiment of bad things in form of ‘Blair Witch’ style video and animal carcasses. One car breaks. Some kids go home. Other kids go to town. Look for fan belt. See house of wax. Frank Lloyd Wright / Deco Futurist architecture. (I rewound for a minute here.) Meet baddie. Standard low light, straw spot barn. Some Geiger horror imagery. (For those of you who don’t know, Geiger designed the alien in the film of the same name, and his other imagery has influenced the horror genre).
Back into fast forward… One kid waxed to death. Two kids captured. One starts getting waxed. Other releases him. Explore house. Gruesome scenes. Damien Hirst style fetal horse desk ornament. (I slowed here for a closer look. There was a mildly amusing moment as a kid jiggled it around to make it look as if it was galloping.) Other kids return. Second baddie introduced. Motivation of baddies is separation of Siamese twins and mother used wax instead of plastic surgery.
Here it gets interesting, but still in fast forward. New kids explore town. Middle America 50’s styling. Whole town waxed. Waxwork characters remind me of something out of a Hopper painting. Paris Hilton does tame lingerie tease. Kids get picked of one by one. Paris Hilton gets pole through head and dies.
Other kids slowly kill baddies getting bloodied in process as usual. House of wax catches fire. Special effect, special effect, special effect, etc. Cops next morning. Kids leave town. I didn’t stop to look for the way forward for a sequel, but noted some very nice typography in the opening sequence and in the credit roll.
There was nothing new or fresh with the exception of recent cultural icon Paris Hilton getting a terminal lobotomy, and the few art and architectural references.
I have problems understanding drama in fast forward, so I don’t watch much. Anyway, I am not a huge fan, with the exception of Sophia Coppola who probably only gets away with bringing wonderful, original, though-provoking scripts to the screen due to the fact that her father’s first names are Frances Ford.
I hire horror movies, because this is the terrain of the story teller. The horror story has a noble lineage that stretches all the way back to the folk tale and the fairy story, traveling through Shelley and Stoker, onwards through the lurid 40s and 50s, into the gruesome 80s and finding its present highpoint in the work of Neil Gaiman.
For those of you who have not yet come across Neil Gaiman’s novels, short stories and graphic novels, he is widely regarded as the greatest living story teller, and this by best-selling writers who specialize in stories.
By hiring horror movies, I hope to see something new, although I am almost always disappointed. Of recent interest, ‘On Shallow Ground’ came up with a rather interesting style of creature and kept it in plain view from the beginning of the movie. The premise of the dark fantasy ‘The Discovery of Heaven’ bordered on genius. Neil Gaiman has finally made it to the big screen and I can hardly wait to see ‘Mirrormask’. I desperately hope it won’t be reduced to the lowest-common denominator.
There is not much for me to watch these days. I wish there were something new. Unfortunately it seems that Hollywood really has lost the magic of stories.
Back to the archive • Previous • Next • Home
