31 Days of Halloween 2013: House of Wax (opens in Cleveland October 18th exclusively at the Capitol Theatre)

[HOUSE OF WAX opens in Cleveland on Friday October 18th exclusively at the Capitol Theatre for a one week run.]


Review by Bob Ignizio

These days it seems like every other movie released is in 3D, but back in 1953 it was still a rarity. That was the year that HOUSE OF WAX was released to theaters. It was the first major studio film in color to be shot in 3D, and as an added bonus the sound was in stereo. And the funny thing is, director Andre De Toth was blind in one eye, and therefore couldn't see things in 3D. Then again, maybe that's part of why HOUSE OF WAX still holds up fairly well. Instead of focusing on his film's gimmick, De Toth concentrated on telling a good horror tale.


The plot of the film is the stuff of lurid pulp horror all the way. Professor Henry Jarrod (Price) is a sculptor of wax figures with considerable skill. Much to the chagrin of his business partner Burke (Roy Roberts), however, he refuses to put a chamber of horrors in his wax museum. Jarrod would much rather capture beauty, perhaps best exemplified by his figure of Marie Antoinette. Looking to make a quick buck, Burke decides to torch the place for the insurance money. Jarrod tries to stop him and winds up dying in the conflagration. Or so it seems.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Review by Pete Roche

The sequel to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur blockbuster JURASSIC PARK warned moviegoers that “something has survived.”  Now the same holds true for meteorological cuisine in Swallow Falls, the fictitious town inundated by spaghetti twisters and precipitating pancakes in 2009’s CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS. 

Loosely based on the prize-winning 1978 children’s book by Ron and Judi Barrett, the cartoon caper sees inventor Flint Lockwood’s Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator machine convert water into burgers, pancakes, and spaghetti.  Of course, Flint’s machine (called the FLDSMDFR for short) goes haywire, and it’s only with a little help from his father and friends that the goofy scientist manages to halt the weird-weather calamity. 

Turbo

Review by Pete Roche

How fast can escargot?

The swiftest garden snail can cover 27 inches an hour, under optimal conditions.  The supercharged slug in Dreamworks’ new TURBO clocks in at over 220 miles per hour—fast enough to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

The cartoon sports comedy from the makers of MADAGASCAR, KUNG FU PANDA, and SHREK chronicles the adventures of Theo / Turbo (Ryan Reynolds), a misfit mollusk who toils with his brood in a suburban tomato patch but dreams of life in the fast lane—literally.  He watches NASCAR footage on TV in a nearby human garage and idolizes smarmy Guy Gagne (Bill Hader), a French-Canadian driver who insists “no dream is too big” on the old videotape interviews.