Review of House of Wax (2005) by Mark H — 03 Feb 2015

Inspired, creative, well-made and conjuring dusty, dirty horror movies of the 60's and 70's such as Texas Chainsaw and Tourist Trap, this movie is really far better than most of its critics gave it credit for.

Admittedly, the movie is formulaic, especially during the first act when we are introduced to a typical group of immature, horny, ignorant teenagers who embody the usual stereotypical characters - the jock, the slut, the "good girl," the criminal/bad boy and his henchman, and the sole black guy.

With the victims in place, they quickly drive out to the middle of nowhere and get lost, oversleep, suffer vehicle problems and end up separated (naturally) in a very creepy, frozen-in-time town which seems to be void of actual living people, save for a filthy local who picks up roadkill, and a rude local who runs the town gas station.

You cannot begin to examine the plot (and plot holes) in a movie like this and still hope to enjoy it on any level. It's a ridiculous plot which cannot stand up to the slightest scrutiny. However, on its surface, the film is first-rate in some very key areas when it comes to horror.

The sets, props, makeup and production design are fantastic, and worth the price of admission. If this movie had even an average script, it might have been a small masterpiece thanks to it's production design and wax figures, fake town and attention to detail.

I was totally sucked into this little town frozen somewhere in the 40's or 50's, although it isn't quite clear when things went south for this place. In any event, turn off your brain, pop some corn, and enjoy the visual splendor that is House of Wax, a very scary movie with some real thrills and a dynamite closing act.