House Of Wax (2005) is a remake in name only, from what I gather of the Vincent Price original (which I have not seen), and seems more inspired by another horror film (that I have seen), Tourist Trap, with a similar plot about a group of teenagers finding themselves in a deserted town off the map with a horrific secret. I remember the coverage around House Of Wax’s release since it was shot in Australia, within Warner Brothers Movieworld, and hence the stray Australian actors in the supporting cast (a young Damon Herriman in the archetypical sinister ‘yokel’ role). And because it starred Paris Hilton in a supporting role, which I think added to the negative critical reception (as well as the glut of post-Scream big budget teen horror movies). Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and much like his other horror movie for Warner Brothers, Orphan, this clocks in at near two hours and doesn’t need to be that long. Still, much like Orphan, House Of Wax was better than I expected thanks to Collet-Serra’s direction; it’s a satisfying, muscular and effective slasher with a face-melting (metaphorically and literally) climax set in the title location. We have five potential victims travelling to a football game who wind up in a detour in the small town of Ambrose, which features a House of Wax tourist attraction. Despite early warning signs of doom, this gang are eventually beset upon by a mysterious assailant for a gloopy fate. Hilton is solid in the supporting role, along with a young pre-Supernatural Jared Padalecki, Robert Ri’chard, and Jon Abrahams. Most appealing are Elisa Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray as the sister-and-brother team, particularly the latter who is introduced as an asshole delinquent and then proceeds to be the most effective bro to have around, scrambling for weapons and throwing down when confronted by a hulking brute (all the while I had an internal Jay from Jay and Silent Bob voice in my head, “That Chad Michael Murray is a bad ass!”). There must be also something where a bit of distance from an era allows you to appreciate the qualities that were all the rage, in this case a soundtrack pumping with tunes by bands like My Chemical Romance, Disturbed, Interpol and Deftones. House of Wax is not an objective masterpiece or anything like that, but as a big budget slasher with some grotesquely effective set design and horror scenes, I had a blast. Now I’m keen to catch up on the other Dark Castle Entertainment produced joints from this time, like the House On Haunted Hill and Thir13en Ghosts remakes. Available on Shudder, Stan and iTunes to rent. Recommended.
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