Dehydrator
02-04-2002, 02:42 AM
The ol' "let's-put-a-famous-director's-name-on-the-box" thing is what made me rent this a few months ago and the fact that it was on TV last week made me write this. For the record, this movie was intended to be the first cooperation between Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. But unlike many of his movie rejects, Fulci refused to come back from the dead and when this became clear, special effects guy Sergio Stivalleti took over the job of directing. Leaving both,Fulci and Argento in the writing credits department only.
For the plot, this is one of these "There's somethin' in the wax museum" movies, centering more or less around young Sonja who survived the bloody murder of her parents at a young age, commited by a man with a steel claw instead of a hand. Years later, she finds himself working in the titular wax-museum under the eyes of Volkoff, the creepy wax-artist who runs it.
This is not a bad film, but not a very good one either. The uncut version delivers some nice gory moments ( one that's straight outta Friday the 13th II ) but overall, the script misses to pack a punch, despite some good moments. The characters aren't all that either, remaining pretty hollow and lame throughout. Action-wise, there's just way too less going on here at all to keep you interested, I found myself practising "One" on my accustic guitar about 20 minutes in.
The movie starts really well when one guy is dared to spent a night in the wax museum and ends up dying of fear. But once the movie focuses on Sonja and her past, things go quikly downhill, due to endless dialogue about stuff I didn't care for anyway.
The only character really worth mentioning is Volkoff who reveals himself as quite an interesting mix between Dr. Frankenstein, tortured artist and the guy from the original "Mystery of the Wax Museum". As for Argento and Fulci on the script, there isn't much to notice, exept for one great, stylish shot of one wax figure's anatomy. Otherwise, the directing of Stivaletti is quite good, managing nice outdoor atmosphere (lots of shots of the dark front of the wax museum), but nothing special.
This being an italian horrormovie you bet that the plot isn't all that focus of attention, which is a shame because it ruins one very cool twist on the wax figures by simply ignoring it two minutes after it is established. The special effects of the finale suck hard, leaving your jaw dropping at Stivaletti's career as italian Tom Savini. Really, it's laughable. Also, the final plot turn is pretty silly.
In the end, this isn't a must see, not even for Argento and Fulci fanatics but has enough good stuff to save it from being bad. If you're into the whole "Wax Museum" stuff, give it a shot, you might come out more smiling than me.
5/10
[This message has been edited by Dehydrator (edited 02-04-2002).]
For the plot, this is one of these "There's somethin' in the wax museum" movies, centering more or less around young Sonja who survived the bloody murder of her parents at a young age, commited by a man with a steel claw instead of a hand. Years later, she finds himself working in the titular wax-museum under the eyes of Volkoff, the creepy wax-artist who runs it.
This is not a bad film, but not a very good one either. The uncut version delivers some nice gory moments ( one that's straight outta Friday the 13th II ) but overall, the script misses to pack a punch, despite some good moments. The characters aren't all that either, remaining pretty hollow and lame throughout. Action-wise, there's just way too less going on here at all to keep you interested, I found myself practising "One" on my accustic guitar about 20 minutes in.
The movie starts really well when one guy is dared to spent a night in the wax museum and ends up dying of fear. But once the movie focuses on Sonja and her past, things go quikly downhill, due to endless dialogue about stuff I didn't care for anyway.
The only character really worth mentioning is Volkoff who reveals himself as quite an interesting mix between Dr. Frankenstein, tortured artist and the guy from the original "Mystery of the Wax Museum". As for Argento and Fulci on the script, there isn't much to notice, exept for one great, stylish shot of one wax figure's anatomy. Otherwise, the directing of Stivaletti is quite good, managing nice outdoor atmosphere (lots of shots of the dark front of the wax museum), but nothing special.
This being an italian horrormovie you bet that the plot isn't all that focus of attention, which is a shame because it ruins one very cool twist on the wax figures by simply ignoring it two minutes after it is established. The special effects of the finale suck hard, leaving your jaw dropping at Stivaletti's career as italian Tom Savini. Really, it's laughable. Also, the final plot turn is pretty silly.
In the end, this isn't a must see, not even for Argento and Fulci fanatics but has enough good stuff to save it from being bad. If you're into the whole "Wax Museum" stuff, give it a shot, you might come out more smiling than me.
5/10
[This message has been edited by Dehydrator (edited 02-04-2002).]