User Reviews

Horror films are like comedies. If you have a comedy, and you laugh a lot, the film works. With a horror film it's the same. If you're scared a lot, then the film worked. House of Wax scared me a lot, so therefore, I must have liked it. Don't get me wrong. This film isn't anything special and by no means is it not without loads of clichés and problems and stupid teenagers. But it is scary, entertaining, gory, and fun.

I barely remember the original Vincent Price film. I think I saw it when I was 5 or 6 years old on TV. This film has a group of teenagers, one of them being Paris Hilton, on their way to a football game and stops at roadside to camp for the night. The next day they realize that their car has been tampered with and naturally they do everything stupid to try and get it fixed including trusting every creep that tries to help them. They separate and end up in a town that looks like something out of a Twilight Zone episode which includes a house made out of wax. There is a legend behind this town that involves some wax sculptress and her freaky twin boys. Are they still lurking around? You just know that all our teens will find out.

House of Wax has a real creepiness to it. The actors, which many of them are from The WB network and the other from Fox, seems to fit right into this genre. I like these kind of films if done well, and this one is done pretty well. I was scared a lot and if I'm watching a horror film, that's OK with me and therefore i'm recommending the movie despite all it's clichés you've probably seen 100 times before. (**1/2)

House of Wax begins with a flashback set in 1974, where we are introduced to a curious family nucleus, formed by a mother who produces wax statues, a doctor father and two very different twin brothers: one is calm and serene; the other, so angry that he has to be tied and immobilized to his child's chair to eat breakfast. Creatively, director Collet-Serra shoots the entire sequence from above, without showing the faces of any of the four actors. The woman is a famous sculptor named Trudy Sinclair, and her husband is a controversial methods surgeon, Dr. Sinclair, who apparently used his own children in some bizarre experiment (which we'll only learn about at the conclusion).

The scene immediately cuts to the present day, when we are introduced to our future victims: a group of young people preparing to travel to another city, where they will follow the finals of a student football championship. In a car ride Blake (Robert Richard) and his girlfriend Paige (insufferable socialite Paris Hilton); in the other are Carly (the beautiful Elisha Cuthbert, who played Kiefer Shuterland's daughter on the series 24 Horas), her boyfriend Wade (Jared Padalecki, from the series Supernatural), and Carly's brother, Nick (Chad Michael Murray, from the series Dawson' s Creek), and his friend Dalton (an unrecognizable Jon Abrahams from Everyone's Panic). On the way they discover that there is a shortcut through a small town and that they can get there much earlier in the game. The little problem is that this city is completely inhabited by wax dolls. So you can see the morbidity that hangs over her: imagine yourself seeing 'people' made of wax, with that "What are you doing here?" look.

As a matter of fact, the script signed by the brothers Chad and Carey Hayes (responsible for an interesting 1990 horror, The Dark Side of the Moon) uses very little of the history of the original House of Wax, in addition to the existence of a wax museum in the plot. . If Vincent Price's film revolved around a disfigured sculptor who kidnapped people to turn them into wax statues, this remake is much more like a great 1979 B movie, David Schmoeller's Trap for Tourists - of which, it even takes inspiration from some scenes. The Hayes brothers still have a lot to learn about how to create fear and tension, but the rookie director works around these shortcomings in the script by using extreme violence and elaborate special effects (never free) to keep fans of the genre's attention.

The script is full of familiar situations, such as when the girl goes to check a strange noise or the moment when the group breaks up to look for a lost friend. It's no surprise the result of these acts, showing just how imbecile the characters are, subjects who seem determined to die. The group of teenagers does everything wrong from the beginning of the film. Take a shortcut they don't know about? Camping in the middle of the forest? Bah, this has been dangerous since Friday the 13th! Wandering through a small town that seems deserted and still entering homes uninvited? Wow, that's stupid! Not realizing the danger lurking in a wax museum? But dammit, haven't they seen movies like The Passage and Wax Museum??? Add to all this the stupidity of a helpless girl leaving her tent in shorts and with a beautiful neckline in the middle of the woods to check out strange noises coming from the forest, the extreme naivety of accepting a ride from a weird hillbilly and completely unknown and the ultimate cliché of, when chased by a psychopath, climbing the stairs to the second floor rather than going out the front door - a cliché relentlessly satirized in the first Scream (1996).

Plus, the script takes nearly an hour to start dispatching its characters. In the meantime, he keeps creating silly situations and "conflicts" between them, in an attempt to make each one of the young people more "interesting", without ever succeeding. The criminal Nick confesses, at one point, that he didn't steal any car, just covered up the theft committed by his friend Dalton. Now what difference does such a revelation make to the plot? Paige, Paris Hilton's character, is since the beginning of the film trying to tell her boyfriend that she is pregnant - another completely unnecessary detail of the story. And what about the never-justified (and totally unnecessary) tantrum of the brothers Carly and Nick??? In the end, all of this only serves to make us even more angry with the characters and hope they all die violently to our sadistic delight.

And that's where director Collet-Serra's imaginative mind kicks in: for each of the script's uninspired nonsense, he strikes back with inspired moments of shock, disgust, or outright violence. This is the case of the scene where Paige and Carly enter the forest to find out where the stench of the place comes from (why not just go away???). Isn't it that Carly falls off a ravine and sinks right in the middle of a disgusting cesspool of dead and rotting animals? And the camera doesn't spare the viewer from nauseating close-ups of the girl's hands sinking into that bloody paste of decaying flesh.

The House of Wax also has a rather nauseating moment where one of the young people is imprisoned and goes through a slow and detailed "preparation" session to become a wax statue. Crazy Vincent, who wears a wax mask himself, neatly stitches the wounds on the boy's body, then painfully plucks the hairs off his face (like eyebrows and eyelashes!), and then immobilizes the future "work of art" in a weird device, after anesthetizing the boy so that he doesn't die of pain. At this point, it's impossible not to feel a shiver of horror as Vincent opens the valves and releases gallons of hot wax on the helpless victim, who can't move or scream in pain, being slowly transformed into a living sculpture!!! By far, one of the most bizarre horror scenes in modern cinema! And the thing has a sequence further on: when one of the victim's friends finds out what happened, he tries to "free" the boy from the wax layer and, in the process, he peels the skin off the "statue", which, alive, but without reaction, only manages to release a few tears of pain.

There are also severed heads, severed fingers, arrows piercing bodies and a moment where a man's face is thoroughly disfigured by baseball bat blows, which owes nothing to the "fire extinguisher scene" in the controversial Irreversible. And let's not forget the now classic death of Paris Hilton (not surprisingly, as the movie's marketing said: "Come and see Paris die!"). To top it off, every scene involving death is extremely exaggerated. If a boy appears with a knife in his throat, the director makes a point of showing the psychopath stepping on the knife to bury the blade even more in the victim's throat!!! Is it little or do you want more? Because House of Wax still surprises the viewer by changing the traditional order of deaths in the genre, dispatching first one of the friendliest characters (and precisely the one you think will survive), and lastly the one you hope will go first - yes, Paris Hilton. The script is also surprising because it reserves very painful sufferings for the little girl Carly, who, imprisoned by the lunatic brothers, has everything from her mouth glued with Super Bonder (oh!) to the tip of one of her fingers cut with pliers.

Of course, House of Wax also has its weaknesses and holes. In addition to the bad composition of the characters, the director decided to keep the "Dark Castle quality standard" and throw in the final scene all the digital effects that he didn't use during the projection time. So, get ready to see a CGI overdose, in the scene where the museum catches fire and human statues melt in close-up, while the walls and floor of the house soften and also melt (because it's all wax!).

And the conclusion is pretty flawed, with a reveal that doesn't change the plot at all, although it tries to sound surprising. The very idea that there might be an abandoned small town that doesn't even exist on the map, with people turned into wax statues, is very unlikely, and only reveals the utter stupidity of the American police - even if they didn't know of Ambrose's existence, they could less be having arrived there sooner or later, investigating the huge number of disappearances in the region... And planes, weren't they flying over that area?

House of Wax is very inspired, and much of this quality is due to the art direction. The "wax" settings of the city of Ambrose are fantastic, and the statues are really very realistic and terrifying. From the secret laboratory where the villain builds his statues (filled with tools, rusty pipes and pastels, plus a hallway with dying faces carved out of wax) to the movie theater (which shows What Happened to Baby Jane? To a motionless audience) and the church, the whole scenario seems to convey the idea that escape is impossible. The movie might not be particularly scary (and what recent movie is it, aside from the goodies coming from the East?), but it sure holds some good creeps.

Despite the unoriginal plot, the film works very well as an entertainment for the majority of the teenage audience, which doesn't worry too much about the lack of quality, just want to watch some carnage. For a horror fan, House of Wax is a sight for sore eyes. It has very violent and somewhat original deaths, competent thriller, great chase scenes and a very creative killer like Vincent. As a remake, of course it doesn't work, as there is little left over from the original story, but as a slasher itself, it works a lot!

This movie is really creepy and has stuck with me for years. I don't understand why people want to hate on it. Yeah the actors aren't the greatest but it's not like horror movies are known for their amazing acting. It's good enough.

I haven't seen violence in a movie that actually had me cringing in disgust in quite some time. Each of the murders and the MO of the killer is truly disturbing. This is compounded by the casual nature in which these acts are committed.

While all of this is very interesting, the film as a whole falls short. All of the characters are completely one-dimensional and even dumber than your average slasher victims. The entire plot follows the slasher formula to the letter. Ever since Halloween every slasher has been the same movie rehashed ad infinitum. I very well could have enjoyed this one has it shown some originality.

And finally, be sure to enjoy the recurring Paris Hilton sex tape gags.

At first, when I saw the name Paris Hilton, I wasn't too sure about House Of Wax (2005). But I decided to give it a fair shot anyways, and I'm glad I did. House Of Wax was actually an entertaining well made horror film. The plot was cool and intriguing. The actors were well casted, and I enjoyed all the characters and the actors playing them did a good job, yes, even Paris Hilton did a pretty good job. The movie was never boring, it always kept you interested and on the edge of your seat. The violence was a bit too graphic at times, but overall it wasn't that bad, other horrors have been far worse when it comes to carnage. Now it's not like the movie was flawless, it did have some flaws. The acting in a few scenes was kinda lackluster, could have been better if they would've just tried again I'm sure. I know a lot of people thought Paris Hilton was going to just be terrible in this movie, in my own personal opinion, I actually thought she did pretty good In her own respective role. She did get to dance around in her lingerie in 1 scene, so you straight guys out there, there you go. For the ladies and gay guys, do not despair, there is definite eye candy for you as well. Chad Michael Murray is one of the main stars here, who actually acts well and looks hot in his role at the same time, hard to find in a horror movie! So does Jared Padalecki, he does well in his role, and looks good doing it. This movie is just a good time for horror movie fans. It's not poorly made or cliché, or cheesily acted. 7/10 for house of wax.

I'll keep this simple. If you enjoy "Real" Horror don't waste your money on this teen themed shock and gore run of the mill Hollywood slasher flick. I saw a preview at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival this weekend and was sorry I wasted both my time and money in doing so. A movie that has been made 3 times prior successfully would normally seem like a given but this movie like so many other American Hollywood horrors of today have forgotten what horror is. They cater to the mindless shock and gore effect that for some god forsaken reason draws our mindless youth to see it. The mere fact Paris Hilton is in this version should tell you something. It felt like I was watching a Halloween version of the OC which was sickening. So many inconsistencies and in all no real horror. I was able not only to predict every turn of events but every big bang or villain appearance meant to make you jump. I fear that we now mistake anticipation of someone jumping out from the shadows as being scared rather than the psychological aspect that really does. I have been a horror fan for over 20 years (longer than most of todays fans have been alive) and if you leave a horror movie and are not looking over your shoulder then it wasn't scary. I had the pleasure to see some horror during the festival from other countries such as "Premonition" from Japan, "Nightwatch" from Russia and "Shutter" from Tailand and I have to say unless American horror abandons this teen slasher premise and gets back to basics the rest of the world will pass us by....hell they already have.

I do not think that this movie deserves the low rating that most will give it. It's one of the best "teenager" horror films I've ever seen; and that's saying a lot. Nothing is left without an explanation to back it up, the characters and plot break countless horror movie stereotypes, and it has got nothing to do with some other horrible pieces we've been submitted to lately. (A clear example is the mindless "Saint Ange".) The first 30-40 minutes might be downright boring with the exception of the beginning, although some minor light mistakes can be easily spotted. After the arrival to the village, though, the horror -a different, twisted kind of horror- begins.

With the plot and the details, goofs are minor; the characters are this movie's strongest point, given that so many clichés are broken in it. For example, the two main male characters, Nick and Wade, are not by any means the idiotic types we're used to; although Dalton might fit better in this stereotype, not is he the only one to pay for this lack of consciousness. Some scenes are truly, satisfyingly horrible, making up for tense moments scattered around all the film. And, in the end, and although everything is decorously explained, it's easy to see that things won't go so easy to the surviving characters.

The only errors I can see, and which do not imply continuity (IE, Carly not finding her own cut finger in the unconscious Bo's pockets) is the illumination, which is somehow annoying during the first, boring 30 minutes. Although, plot and effects-wise, everything is drastically and cruelly twisted with the arrival of the main characters to Ambrosia, that little village in the midst of nothing, so I'll give it that. It's been pretty much argued that about 70% of the movie is illogical; "How can two people build an entire house of wax?", "Where do they get all the wax from?". These wouldn't be uprising questions if people would have paid more attention to the movie. The Sinclair brothers did not build the House of Wax; their mother worked making actual wax figures, and they were exhibited at the museum. And the scenario where Paris Hilton's unfortunate character meets her untimely death is the answer to the second question; what is with all the personal objects (mobile phones, cars, clothes) of the dead people? Using their third brother as a connection with the exterior, it's pretty much arguable that the Sinclair twins should obtain the money necessary to buy the wax, in a WWII-type fashion.

So, that aside, I think the movie deserves a lot more than it gets, and nobody should lose the chance to watch it. So go see the House of Wax. Right now.

I really didn't expect too much from this movie. What started off as filler before some movies I was more interested in either came out for home viewing or were available at the rental place ended up being a highly entertaining flick. Paris Hilton's acting was about as good as can be expected, which is adequate, and she by far has the most boring death, but with that exception being stated, some gnarly bloodshed ensues which had me, a relatively jaded horror aficionado used to the standard issue death scenes, saying "Damn-that's harsh!" It's one of those movies that has you (at least I hope I'm not the only one!) putting yourself into the victim's shoes, imagining both their pain and mental desperation. Of course, it didn't get good reviews by more popular raters, but then again, what horror movie EVER has? (Other than in Fangoria magazine...)

I cannot understand how Dark Castle keeps on making movies when they all turn out to be crap. Do they even care if they make a decent movie? The first hour bored me to tears and it was only in the second hour did anything interesting happen. But, by then it was too little too late. This movie was just a cash grab attempt with no ambition to create a real movie. Ghost Ship was a masterpiece compared to this mess. How clever of them to think of making the town filled with wax figures. Boy, how creative! Way to "re-imagine" the film. Anyone could tell that this was going to be crap the minute you saw Paris and her wooden acting abilities. Even though the movie was a free preview screening, I still feel I was robbed of my time. The only way we can get them to stop is to stay away and don't contribute to the box office. Stay away!

One of the good horror movies. I don't know why people are complaining so much. Acting is fine, the horror is there, there's enough suspense, the plot is okay. I really enjoyed it.

I wasn't expecting to much of this movie when I went into the theater but I had been waiting for it for many years. To sum it up, it was pretty damn good! Chad Michael Murray was pretty good, I thought he was going to be another Chris Flynn from Wrong Turn but I was wrong. Elisha Cuthbert was also good but the best performance has to go to Brian Van Holt. He played the bad guy too well, I mean he was sick, sadistic, and very cruel. The back story between the brothers was good, plus I liked how no killings took place until about 40 minutes into the film. It gave you time to pick the character you wanted to see live and the one you wanted to see die. Jon Abrahams was pretty good as the goofy best bud of CMM. I liked how Chad kind of cried when he found him dead, it was better then just him being like, "Whatever, my buddy is dead, who cares". It showed how he really cared. So overall, this was a darn god slasher with some great effects. Bravo!

This dreadful film is not a remake of HOUSE OF WAX but another rehashing of every teen themed Horror flick to come out of the over produced Hollywood Horror meat machine. None of the characters in this film are particularly likable so you don't really care about them and in the end I just wished that they had all died in a horrible car accident in the beginning of the film so I wouldn't have had to sit through the rest of this mess. Hollywood needs to get the message, that Blair With hand held camcorder effect isn't art, it's irritating. Hollywood also needs to get the message that more than kids watch these movies so lay of the rock scores that exist of irritating noises and not music. The success of the original 80's slasher films had as much to do with the effective scoring of the films that burned themselves into our memory. Everybody knows those themes because the music still haunts them.

I keep reading these reviews that say the Vincent Price movie was a camp horror film. That's news to me. The Vincent Price film was also a remake, but it was not camp. It was a horror film and when seen in it's time it was quite shocking. Everything about this film is cookie cutter formula, nothing is shocking because it's all too predictable. The trend today seems to be to take older films and run them through the formula grinder and come out with something totally different, not related to the original in any way.

If the original film worked, it worked for a reason. If people are still watching the original versions of these films then they still work today. Why tamper with something that works. Perhaps it's because, they too, see the Vincent Price film as camp and if that's the case, they really have no clue what a horror film is in the first place.

House Of Wax is pretty much everything I like in a horror movie. The killers were creepy and freaky but not too over the top. The murders were genuine and realistic looking while the cinematography was great! Carly Jones (Elisha Cuthbert) and her boyfriend, Wade (Jared Padalecki) are going to the big college football game with a group of friends and her brother, Nick (Chad Michael Murray). Along the way, they get tired and look for a place to camp out for awhile and get some rest. As you can imagine, car problems end up keeping them from getting out of their hidden campsite. Carly and Wade head for the small town of Ambrose, which seems strange on the surface.

This is where the real action begins. While I admit that the movie took it's time getting to the good stuff, it was well worth the wait. The special effects department have outdone themselves. Especially when it comes to the house made of wax, itself.

I was very surprised by the low rating given by the IMDb users. I should not be, but I was. Do not be fooled. If you are into horror movies, then this one comes highly recommended. In fact, it has inspired me to see the original and will do so first chance I get. 8/10

This is a chiller flick with grisly horror , genuine thrills and shocks . This eerie story contains bit good fun with grisly killing , relentless horror and lots of blood and guts . The chiller version packs scary chills and terrifying deaths such as a horrible stabbing , quartering and beheading . It deals with a group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit . One by one, the entire group ends up falling prey to two murderous brothers , the creators of the town's local 'House of Wax'. Carly (Elisa Cuthbert) and Wade (Jared Padalecki) decide to go to the nearest town to get a new fan belt while the rest of the group attempts to go to the game , while Paige (Paris Hilton) and Nick (Chad Murray) stay on countryside making love . They discover that two brothers have expanded upon the area's main attraction , the House of Wax . They enter house of wax suddenly closes itself and they encounter trapped inside and soon supernatural creepiness begin frightening the hosts . Then they'll spend a ghastly time in the spooky house with killings-laden history .

This terrifying film contains chills , thrills , violent scenes and lots of blood and gore . From start to final the frantic horror images and fast movement is unstopped . It's a silly but amusing horror story and with abundant use of computer generator FX and special make-up in charge of Howard Berger , among others . The wax figures are the real stars of this production , being rightly realized by means of an excellent make-up and magnificent special effects . Some scenes are clumsily shot but the movie has some good moments here and there , the illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the creepy wax models , eerie killers and many other things . Gorgeous actresses as Elisa Cuthbert and Paris Hilton along with young male actors as Brian Van Holt , Chad Murray , Jared Padalecki , Jon Abrahams accompanying efficiently to female starring . Colorful cinematography by cameraman Stephen H. Windon , using Steadicam . The musician John Ottman creates a stirring , moving soundtrack fitting to frenetic terror . Lavishly produced including spectacular scenes by the successful American producer Joel Silver who along with Robert Zemeckis and Gilbert Adler created ¨Dark House¨ , a production company specialized on terror genre ; both of them have produced successful terror movies dealing with eerie tales about horror , grisly killings and lots of blood and gore such as ¨House of haunted hill¨, ¨Return to house of haunted hill¨ , ¨Gothika¨, ¨Ghost ship¨, ¨House of wax¨ , Whiteout¨ , ¨Splice¨ , ¨The reaping¨ , ¨Orphan¨ , among others . The flick was compellingly directed by Jaume Collet-Serra . Collet is an expert director of terror movies as ¨Orphan¨, ¨House of wax¨ and for TV as ¨The river¨ , his greatest success was the action movie titled ¨Unknown¨ with Liam Neeson . Rating : Better than average, well worth seeing . The picture will appeal to terror fans .

A lot of people are flaming this film for the presence of Paris Hilton, but this is not a fair reason to object to the movie. The reality is that Paris has a fairly minimal part, she spends the vast majority of the movie off screen. The film also makes fun of her on several occasions, usually involving a camera and at least once in night vision. For those who enjoy Paris Hiltons stage presence, this may be a movie to see at home when its released on video, because at the screening I was at, we all laughed at her misfortunes through the movie and she is portrayed as a "woman of questionable values".

The movie itself was pretty good (unlike the recent flood of weak horror flicks), it has everything a good horror should; a creepy villain, excessive violence, acts which make that average person cringe...this movie hit all the bases. It is definitely worth a watch.

Let me start off where everybody else does... Paris Hilton. Yes, her performance was not the best, but don't let that deter you. "House of Wax" has a genuine creepy feel with good performances from Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt and Jared Padalecki.

With the classic plot of a group of teens going on a trip when suddenly things go awry, there are moments that are unexpected and leave you thinking even after the credits have rolled. There are clues given throughout the film that give the audience a chance to piece together what the hell is going on before it is revealed at the end. Those are always the best sorts of movies.

Though there are moments of 'classic horror movie plot syndrome' that may cause some to chuckle, it makes up for it with the special effects, semi-original themes and the antagonists. I'd call it a pretty damn good two hours of entertainment.

7/10

I thought the movie was very realistic, and I could almost imagine this happening for real in one of those tiny American towns where there is little else to do but go to the only permitted religious house in America - church, see a film in the ancient movie theatre or visit the local wax museum. That said, the start of the movie focused too much on the group of friends who seemed much like any other horror movie victims and not nearly enough on the murderous brothers and their story. What could have been a very interesting story was rushed over to make way for a load of unnecessary garb about a football game, the context of which had me patiently wait for the good bit to start and remain baffled as to why anyone would travel for that long and without any real guarantee of success simply for the privilege of watching a sport they could probably get on TV at home. But then, I am English.

However, Elisha Cuthbert, the freaky brothers and the witless but creepy hick they first meet are absolutely brilliant in their roles, although they do need some settling-down time. Paris Hilton, although with a distinct lack of experience compared to the others and apparent need to constantly talk about sex with her boyfriend and yet ridiculous timing when trying to tell her boyfriend something incredibly important, does seem to be getting into the swing of things and is suitably terrified at the correct times. Despite this, she's going to need plenty on roles in a succession of slightly crappy movies before she can handle much more than a few lines, no matter how rich her daddy is.

I had some trouble rating this movie. Its special effects are certainly special and its main characters are convincing, but there are a few mistakes which bring it down. However, it also had plenty of gore which satisfied the curious child in me and was almost entirely plausible. It also made me reason that there's no need to visit Madame Tussaurds ever again and kept me up all night with dreams that were scarier than the film itself, so for horror fans, of which I now definitely do not count myself (at least for a good while), it's a pretty safe bet.

After watching Kingdom of Heaven some people at work asked if I wanted to stay after and watch House of Wax. I said sure and got some beer while I was waiting.

Good thing. Even with drinking 6 beers during the 2 hours and 10 minutes (waiting for people to show, then during movie) House of Wax was more like House of Insert Funny Adjective Here That Degrades the Movie.

The beginning is slow, the acting is the only thing scary, and the special effects looked like they were created by "special" people. Paris Hilton can't act, then again, not too many people in this movie could.

All the character are so annoying that you welcome their deaths. The only thing to watch for if you are going to see it, is the when the Johnny McBadAss character throws a bottle of beer then jacks up the hood on his hoodie. I've been doing that for the past few days now and my street cred is shooting through the roof.