House of Wax (2005)

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra [Other horror films: Orphan (2009), The Shallows (2016)]

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen House of Wax. If I had to guess, it’s been over ten years. So I was quite excited to see this one again, as I thought it was a pretty solid movie the first couple of times I saw it, and with fresh eyes, I can confirm this movie is quite solid.

A remake-in-name-only of 1953’s House of Wax (which is itself a remake of 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum), I can’t say exactly why it works. It’s a slasher movie, and not overly original, but I’m guessing that the whole wax element adds a lot. There’s not really much mystery, but that finale, which takes place in a melting literal house of wax, is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

I think time has been somewhat kind to this one, because while I remember plenty of critiques when it came out, it’s not uncommon for me to hear positive things about it nowadays, and I can see why. It’s a bit generic insofar as the story goes – two killers are killing people – but it’s filled with fun ideas, a memorable setting, and some quality violence.

The best piece of violence would probably be a scene in which someone’s fingertip gets cut off with a wirecutter. That’s a scene that’s stuck with me ever since I first saw the movie – there’s a lot of blood, as you can imagine, and it looks so damn painful. Another individual is sprayed with hot wax. Someone else gets a pair of scissors to their Achilles’ Heel. An individual who has been covered in wax gets his face peeled off. Someone else get stabbed in the heel – it was quick, but #Painful. For a mid-2000’s slasher, House of Wax can be a violent film, which I definitely think works in it’s favor.

I also think the setting does a lot for the film. A largely abandoned small town with wax figures in every building, plus a house of wax made entirely of wax (which leads to the aformentioned fantastic melting finale, and digging through a wax wall for freedom), this movie just has a lot of great atmosphere. Even at the length of the film – an hour and 53 minutes – the setting and story keep things wonderfully engaging.

Chad Michael Murray (The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia and Camp Cold Brook) was fantastic in this movie. I loved his character – he started out a bit of an asshole, but he quickly grows on me, and even without the violent attacks he’s trying to defend himself and his sister against, I was rooting for him. Elisha Cuthbert (Captivity) was quite good, and while he wasn’t around as long as you might expect, Jared Padalecki (Friday the 13th and Cry Wolf) was pretty solid. Paris Hilton (Nine Lives and Repo! The Genetic Opera) appeared for a bit, but not for long, so that’s fine.

I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed House of Wax, given that, while it has been many a moon, I’ve enjoyed it before, but I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. This movie holds up quite well in my mind, and while I know the reception is more on the lukewarm side, I find this movie a hell of a lot of fun, and definitely recommend it.

8.5/10