A series of disappearances and murders have rocked the city, and police are baffled, but determined to stop it. Meanwhile, young woman Marta is rejecting the advances of smitten doctor Raoul, much preferring the company of Luis. But he has a secret of his own, and one that may be at the heart of this terrible mystery...
Museo del (Museum of) Horror is a pretty decent little horror. The
film certainly lives up to its title, and is quite brutal! There's no
actual violence or gore, but the sight of women getting boiling wax
poured directly on their faces is pretty gnarly, especially for the
period! That's Mexico for ya, always doing what Americans were too
cowardly to show.
The story is pretty thin, and while Museum isn't too long at just 76 minutes, it does feel padded at times. There's not much in the way of investigation, with much of the time being devoted to family matters, and romance. The suspect pool is very small too, and we never get to know anyone outside of the main few. Doesn't make it a satisfying mystery.
The
romance is another tumour the film has to deal with. What we have here
is a love triangle between a sweet young lady, a body snatcher who
experiments on the dead, and a serial killer who turns people into wax! To quote a great comment on IMDb: "The
two leading men vying for Marta's affection are mostly unlikable,
and having both of them suspects diminishes the romantic values of the
film". That is a dead-on description. It's quite hard getting on board
with a film's romance when you suspect one part of the triangle guilty of
burning women alive.
When it focuses on the chills though it's all good. The film has elements of
House of Wax, but also feels like its own take on familiar material,
rather than a blatant copy.
Marta is a likeable enough girl, and I appreciate how she doesn't go for the well-off doctor, but instead sticks to her guns! She doesn't care that Luis is poor, lamed, and a washed-up actor. She likes him for him! Raoul meanwhile is a Grade A dickhead! Marta makes it abundantly clear she only sees him as a friend. A good friend, who she genuinely cares for, but that's it. But he just won't leave it alone, constantly harassing her, kissing her without permission, trying to guilt-trip her, and sounding like an entitled baby! And we're not even getting into his extra-curricular activities, which the ending just glosses over.
Luis seems a nice enough guy, and a much better love interest than Raoul! Just a shame he's clearly mad too. I was wondering the whole time if maybe Luis was just a red herring, and it's just a coincidence that he runs a wax museum, and has an unhealthy obsession with its subjects. But nope, he really is the killer. I'm not sure why the movie even bothers hiding it, when it's pretty much right in our face.
The remainder of the cast include a dotty mama, some likeable police officers, and a couple of villainous gravediggers, but most don't get as much time as they could've. There's also a pretty nightclub singer, who is sadly murdered after giving us a couple of fun Latin ditties.
The last act is fun. Marta discovers Luis's terrible secret, and he decides the only way to deal with her is by turning her into his greatest masterpiece. Luckily Raoul is on the case, and Marta is saved entirely by his jealousy! I suppose he does help save the day, though I'm still not fond of the implication that he indeed gets the girl in the end!
The
location work in Museum of Horror is spectacular! We've got a neat wax museum, the smoke and streetlights of the night, and the ooky cemetery. We've also got an evil lair that's downright impressionistic, right out of German
cinema. The visuals in general here are great, including a surreal nightmare that may feel like footage cribbed from another movie (Hercules and the Haunted World?), but it fits really well!
Museum
of Horror isn't the best, but it's never bad, and is pretty daring in
some ways. And if nothing else, it's a visual treat (especially
if an HD version exists!). It's definitely worth a watch...
No comments:
Post a Comment