Review: House of Wax in 3D at the Castro

I had the pleasure this past Saturday night to see the original 1953 House of Wax staring Vincent Price at the Castro Theater here in San Francisco. As a part of the Castro's Dual System 3D Series, the film was presented in astounding full color 3D utilizing a synchronous two projector system on an actual silver screen- a method only the Castro can employ in San Francisco. The only downfall of the system is that only one hour of film can be projected at a time, necessitating an intermission. Actually, it was nice to take a break and rest our eyes for a few minutes between reels.

The film itself was far better than I remembered. Vincent Price is chilling as Jarrod, the somewhat deranged sculptor of wax beauties, crippled by an insurance fire set in his artsy wax museum. Set on revenge, he opens up another more exploitive wax museum and seek to fill it with images of the world he hates. Phyllis Kirk as Sue, the object of Jarrod's post-fire obsession, is also quite brilliant. She believably pulls off the detective role in the story, before getting caught up herself in Jarrod's nefarious scheme. There are enough twists and fun in the story to keep it moving along at a brisk pace. But, it is the 3D effect itself that really makes the film a classic.

Director Andre De Toth uses the short lived dual 3D process to it's maximum effect, creating perhaps the finest 3D movie ever (granted, that's not saying much). Ironically, De Toth himself had only one eye! The opening shot of the film, a deeply dimensional shot of a fog enshrouded cobblestoned street with the main title jumping out at you, elicited spontaneous applause from the Castro audience. The fire sequence was also quite astounding in 3D, the many firery levels of the museum expertly shot to maximize the effect. And the paddleball sequence was great fun, kicking off the second reel with high style and camp. But the scenes I will remember most fondly for their 3D brilliance is the footchase through the New York streets, the depth of the foggy alleyways and gothic streetcorners fully realized by De Toth. The use of 3D was just enough to be fun, without calling too much attention to itself and taking viewers out of the movie.

On the other hand, the Three Stooges short that followed House of Wax was pure 3D madness! 1953's Spooks finds the boys as private detective's disguising themselves as pie salesman (you can see the 3D pie fight coming a mile away!) to rescue a sexy blonde trapped in a haunted house. As Three Stooges shorts go, this one is far from a classic but the Stooges use of 3D more than makes up for it. There are fists, eye pokes, hypodermic needles (my cringe inducing favorite), sledgehammers, gorilla arms and pies all flying at the camera, blatantly exploiting the 3D effect. The crowd loved the ridiculous fun of this short and it was a great way to cap off a night of 3D goodness.

House of Wax and Spooks was the most fun I have had at the movies in a long time. Don't miss the next opportunity to see the amazing dual system 3D at the Castro!