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Inspiration for this blog post came from an unlikely source: My brother’s high school homework assignment. For his film class he had to write a paper about House of Wax (the 1953 version, not the disastrous Paris Hilton remake). While proof-reading his paper (yeah, I’m a good sis like that), I learned that House of Wax was the first 3-D color feature from a major American studio. It premiered just two days after Man in the Dark, the first 3-D film released by a major studio. Together, these films sparked a 3-dimensional craze in the early 1950s. It was the studio’s way of competing with the new threat of television.
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Sound familiar? Cut to over 55 years later and the gimmick is booming once again. This time, it’s to compete with the threat of the dreaded Internet. (Wolverine leak, anyone?) 3-D has been a go-to trick studios will use in order to get more seats in the theater. And, hey, as cheesy as it is, it works. Let’s count the recent number of 3-D films, shall we? There was Journey to the Center of the Earth, Coraline, Monsters vs. Aliens, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour and My Bloody Valentine 3-D, to name a few. And then there are the 3-D films yet to be released: Disney Pixar’s Up, Final Destination 4: Death Trip, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Avatar.
(Psst… it even works on TV. A February episode of the NBC gem Chuck shot in 3-D gave the show it’s highest ratings of the season.)
Who knew this silly experiment from the ‘50s would turn a profit decades later? You can thank House of Wax for those goofy glasses, and for bringing movies of today to new depths.
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