Movie Review: House of Wax (2005)

I had very low expectations heading into this. How could I not? Paris Hilton is in it, as if she needs to be overexposed any further. But, on the flip side, it does have Elisha Cuthbert, and that is a plus in my book. In any event, I was not expecting a good film and I said that what we got is a good movie, I'd be lying. I arrived at the theater, got my popcorn and soda and made my way to the screen, down the hallway and around the corner towards the larger screens reserved for new releases and blockbusters. I took my seat and waited not exactly sure I wanted to be there.



The film opens in 1974, we see parents tending to their two children, one behaving himself, the other struggling violently and needing to be strapped into his high chair. We never see their faces. It then cuts to the opening credits and shifts the time frame to present day, although most of the music played seems to be years old. It then kicks into full on horror movie cliche mode. A group of kids decide to take a back roads shortcut on their journey, stop along the way, are confronted by the town crazy and are become embroiled with some killer's crazy games. There is absolutely nothing new, nor terribly original here. This begs the question, why did I enjoy it?

Watching the first third or so, I was actually rather bored. There was a lot of Blair Witch Project style camera work,one of the guys was constantly shooting with a camcorder. We get a lot of footage from that point of view. But then the film kicked up a few gears, after a gooey surprise for star Elisha Cuthbert, two of our party members find themselves in an odd little town. There is a lot of creepiness generated throughout the apparently empty town. The only soul they meet is Bo, the owner of the only gas station in town. From here the action spirals out of control. If you've seen the trailer, you know that the wax figures are actually people covered in wax. With this discovery comes our first victim. I don't really want to go into much detail, as therein lies the fun of this type of film.

We hit full throttle, as the pack gets thinned and people are dispatched in a variety of suitably gruesome ways. My favorite, of course being Paris Hilton. Come on now, you didn't honestly think that she would survive a horror movie did you? She puts up a fight, but in the end, you can't beat a guy with a wax face. There are a number of horror cliches at work, such as if you have sex, or plan on it, you will die, the heroine will inexplicably run up stairs when she should be getting out of the building, among others. One of the endearign qalities, is that they don't act as if they are in a horror movie, it doesn't follow the post-Scream trend of having self-aware characters, it worked there, but got old fast, so this is nice change.

The acting is nothing to write home about. Paris Hilton's screen time is kept, thankfully, to a minimum as she seems to just be playing a variation on herself. The other supporting cast members are the typical lot you find in horror films. The main players on the side of good are a pair of twins named Carly and Nicky, played by Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray. Elisha is the star of this film, she does a good job playing at alternate times the strong woman and the frightened girl, I guess those years of crazy story arcs on 24 have paid off. Chad tries his hand at the dark and brooding anti-hero type, he does a decent job of it, nothing special. On the other side of things there is Brian Van Holt who does a good job playing separated Siamese twins, the creepily menacing Bo and the murderous, wax faced Vincent (named as an homage to Vincent Price who starred in a film with the same name in 1953).

I was glad to see a decent gore level, something that has been sorely lacking in horror films over the past few years. The first appearance of Vincent is a cringe inducing moment involving a trap door and a pair of scissors. Again, it is hard to dance around what gore we get without giving away the kills. Let me just say that I enjoyed some of the more creative ways of dispatch. Then there is the good use of crazy glue and wire cutters.

The centerpiece of the film is the town itself, a wax building, wax people all over the town, and an underground labyrinth which seems to connect the entire town. A good job is done using this town to create a sense of isolation and general eeriness. And then there is the climactic battle between our good and evil twins in the wax house as it is melting around them. This entire set piece is rather impressive and put together well.

This brings me back to why did I like it? I realized that this movie can be viewed in one of two ways. The first, which I found to be the less desirable of the two, is that it is just another in a long line of lousy horror films with a cheesy story, weak acting and a predictable ending. That was the way I was leaning for that first third I spoke of earlier. Then as our heroic twins make their way through the town, I realized that there was a second way that one could watch this movie. Whether the creative team was attempting this or not, it plays very well as a throwback to the 80's era of teen slasher horror flicks. Putting on those filtered glasses made this an enjoyable ride. Some good kills, decent suspense, a good lead in Elisha Cuthbert, an interesting new pair of villains in Bo and Vincent, and a visually stunning climactic set piece. This filter allowed me to look past the numerous shortcomings and enjoy it for what it is.

That all said, the story leaves things open and other things feeling tacked on. For one thing, the camera that they tried so hard to show as often as they could was still in play with no resolution. The origin story of our bad guys doesn't get enough airtime, it seemed rather interesting, but the flesh doesn't get put on the bones, so to speak. There is also the supposed closure to the roadkill guy, which seems like it was stuck on because the writers had forgotten about him.

Bottomline. If you go in expecting a piece of high art, you will be sorely disappointed. If you go looking for a good horror film, you will likewise be disappointed. But, if you go expecting to just have a little fun and maybe remember what it was like to go to those slasher flicks, then this may be the film for you. Or even if you have an intense dislike for everything Paris, this may have a little something to give you a chuckle.

Mildly Recommended.

Also at Blogcritics.org.