Over by the door stands Marilyn Monroe, breathlessly greeting customers, her skirt teasingly hiked and showing a little leg. Jimmy Cagney and Batman patrol the catwalk overhead, while Beavis and Butthead moon the dance floor crowd. Woody Allen is there, too, or, at least, a colossal reproduction of his famously allergic nose, looming high above the video wall and sneezing confetti over the gawking crowd.

And then there,s the oversized, smoke-blowing derriere-who it belongs to is anybody,s guess-hanging high above the movie theatre reading board. And the Jurassic Park Jungle of the backbar, complete with ravenous dinosaurs, waterfalls and volcanoes. And a 400-gallon saltwater tank stocked with eels. And too much more weirdness to mention.

At The Movies
Opened in February of 1991, Flix, the brainchild of former filmmaker Ron Cerasuolo and Construction entrepreneur Ernie Patti, has been named, "Hottest Nightspot in Ft. Lauderdale for two years straight by South Florida Magazine. Located 10 minutes north of Ft. Lauderdale, Flix attracts a diverse, upscale crowd of about 6,000-10,000 customers per week. Open until 4 a.m., it has become a Mecca of nightowls- including other club owners and employees-looking for a party after the rest of the town has shut down.

A Typical Saturday night at Flix will draw 2,900-3,200 people, Cerasuolo said. The crowd may include movie stars and directors such as Jack Nicholson, Brian DePalma, Kim Basinger, Kyle McLachlan, Peter Bogdanovich, Mickey Rourke, and Bill Murray, among others.

Against this Hollywood backdrop, Cerasuolo, like a director who constantly re-writes the script, happily alters the club,s look whenever inspiration strikes. "We wanted to come up with a concept that wouldn,t stagnate, he said. "So we granted ourselves a perpetual remodeling license and remodel the club every day, adding new movie special effects, props and other attractions.

While others clubs close their doors to achieve a new look, Flix,s remodeling often takes place during business hours. Employees-hired for their artistic and performing talents as well as waitstaff abilities- contribute to the ongoing design, sculpting and painting 3-D, molded fiberglass figures of movie stars or fashion entire miniatures of movie sets such as "Jurassic Park. Staffers may also don blonde Marilyn wigs or mount a motorcycle, James Dean-style, for a more realistic effect.

"This process is very cost effective because you,re doing it over a long period of time and you don,t have to shut down, Cerasuolo said. "We do a lot of remodeling while the customer is there and you can watch the sculpture or painting as it being created. That,s entertainment in itself. It keeps you concept fresh, makes the employees excited about working there and keeps customers coming back to see the changes.

That,s Entertainment
Every inch of the 5,800-square-foot Flix, offers a visual treat. Its centerpiece is a 30-foot, computerized video wall starring Nix Flix, a Max Headroom-type animated character who introduces music videos and movie clips. The video wall, manufactured by ElectroSonic of Atlanta, was the first ever installed in a night club, Cerasuolo said. "It beats a live band any day. We use it like a window to the world, depending on the clip. An elaborate lighting system from High End, pulsing with computer-controlled strobes, data flashes and Intellabeams, completes the high tech effect on the dance floor.

And that,s just the beginning. A stroll around the club yields an endless harvest of delights, most of them in television form. A monitor built into a seven-foot statuette of Oscar plays a continuous reel of movie stars, tearful acceptance speeches. Another monitor submerged in a fish tank runs scenes from "Splash and "The Little Mermaid. Monitors are even mounted above the men,s room urinals, some depicting a pair of pouty, puckered female lips, cooing, "Hey, you,ve got the future of the world in your hands. A monitor in the stall shows the fireside scene from "Blazing Saddles in which cowpokes down a hearty plate of beans.

"I,m always trying to do things you don,t expect, Cerasuolo said. "A lot of these ideas come from my background in both film and the club and restaurant industry. I like to take theme nightclubs and do them differently.

Future plans include a James Bond exhibit, a dog show featuring Lassie and a mini-New York City, complete with an Empire State Building. And after three years, Cerasuolo is just getting warmed up. "I,m always trying to do things you don,t expect, he said.

The Player
Cerasuolo started making Super 8 Movies as a kid and earned a full scholarship to UCLA film school. His first professional effort, "Dream Confusion, premiered in theatres and proved a financial success. From there, he directed "What,s Wrong with the Neighbor,s Son?, a docudramatic interpretation of schizophrenia, and a for-video horror film called "The Disturbance, which was distributed worldwide and also turned a profit.

"Supporting me throughout all this was the nightclub and restaurant business, particularly my work with Yesterday,s Restaurant, he said. "Then, I finally got the idea to combine films and nightclubs into one theme.

In 1990 Cerasuolo and Patti joined to buy G. Willikers in Pompano Beach, then shut it down and remodeled it.

They combed the Ft. Lauderdale area for the best, most popular bartenders in other clubs and hired them over to Flix. "That first year we grossed $2.3 million, then showed a 12.5 percent increase in 1992, Cerasuolo said. "By the end of 1993, our sales topped $3 million, which was our goal.

"Our club is more expensive than most others in town, with 33 percent of sales in champagne and a lot of expensive specialty shots. A lot of our sales are from high rollers, other club owners and local royalty who come because of our bartenders and our great concept.

Cerasuolo realizes the role of his popular waitstaff in making Flix a major player in the competitive local club scene and uses it to full advantage. Once a week employees ride out in limousines to other clubs and, with permission from owners, hand out free admission passes to Flix. Flix also hosts a weekly Battle of the Bars, in which bartenders from area clubs compete to bring in the most customers. "Bartenders promote the heck out of that night, Cerasuolo said. "They tell their customers, "Hey, come and see me bartending at Flix on Monday! We advertise for our competition and they advertise for us.

Other popular promotions as Harley Night for bikers, Singles Nights, and Backdoor Extremities, featuring all black light decor and progressive music. In addition, an executive chef serves up a gourmet menu, including appetizers of Norwegian smoked salmon and baked brie.

From Here To Eternity
Despite its success, Cerasuolo knows Flix,s box office run won,t last forever. "In our area you go through a 12 month or 24 month cycle. You build a new club, everybody comes to it for a year or two, it starts declining and they,re off to some new place, and you,re out of business. Then you shut the doors for 90- 120 days and change the entire concept.

"By adding little things here and there and keeping the movie motif, we don,t have to shut down and do that major remodel as often. Maybe we,ll need to do it every four years, but we,re in out fourth year now and sales are going up, not down. So I,d have to say it,s working.

Meanwhile, Cerasuolo has big ambitions for the future. "We,re going to start buying more nightclubs, one every 24 months, he said. He has been eyeing locations in South Beach, another nightclub-heavy resort town packed with movie stars. Many of its clubs are cheaply built and poorly conceived, he said. "They might spend $20 on a sound system and $100 on lights, yet they,re packed with movie stars, models and jetsetters. The gimmick seems to be the people they attract.

"So, we,re moving down to South Beach. If we want to branch out, we,re going to be like a germ. And the way to do that is to get involved with the jetsetting group and get ourselves pollinated throughout the world. Besides, we know we can do it better than everybody else.

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