A group of friends on their way to a college football game fall afoul of a pair of killers who trap them in a town made entirely out of wax, except for the eerie wax figures may actually be more real than they look.
The premise is fairly simple and not that original. Recent horror films like Wrong Turn and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have already covered this territory. However, this doesn't stop House of Wax from being an enjoyable and entertaining horror film. For starters, the story and characters have a lot more depth than recent slasher films. Instead of just rushing into the murders, the film moves at a slow pace and actually introduces the characters. The audience will actually feel sympathy for them later on since they aren't all one dimensional. Jaume Serra keeps the first half of the film bloodless yet still engaging and he manages to make the second half pretty suspenseful. I'm glad he took this route and it made the film a lot better than I was expecting.
The acting is pretty good for this type of film with the best being Elisha Cuthbert. Her performance isn't amazing but she's easy to like and she also has an engaging quality that draws the viewer's attention to her. Chad Michael Murray gives an okay performance, nothing special. Jared Padalecki also gives an okay performance, again, nothing special. Paris Hilton just plays herself and she does an okay job. However, she's easily the worst out of everyone. Jon Abrahams just gives an annoying performance and his character isn't really needed.
While the characters are developed, some of them are still kind of stupid. I know this is a horror film but some of their actions just left me confused. There were a lot of "don't do that" moments but this was kind of expected. The death scenes were pretty nice and stylish. There were some creative ones that are worth checking out. The killers looked scary and they were pretty effective. The ending was kind of disappointing though. I loved watching the whole museum melt down and it looked awesome but the ending still felt a little to simple. Also, I hope they do make a sequel since they left it open for one. In the end, House of Wax is a solid horror film that's worth checking out. Rating 7/10
The premise is fairly simple and not that original. Recent horror films like Wrong Turn and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have already covered this territory. However, this doesn't stop House of Wax from being an enjoyable and entertaining horror film. For starters, the story and characters have a lot more depth than recent slasher films. Instead of just rushing into the murders, the film moves at a slow pace and actually introduces the characters. The audience will actually feel sympathy for them later on since they aren't all one dimensional. Jaume Serra keeps the first half of the film bloodless yet still engaging and he manages to make the second half pretty suspenseful. I'm glad he took this route and it made the film a lot better than I was expecting.
The acting is pretty good for this type of film with the best being Elisha Cuthbert. Her performance isn't amazing but she's easy to like and she also has an engaging quality that draws the viewer's attention to her. Chad Michael Murray gives an okay performance, nothing special. Jared Padalecki also gives an okay performance, again, nothing special. Paris Hilton just plays herself and she does an okay job. However, she's easily the worst out of everyone. Jon Abrahams just gives an annoying performance and his character isn't really needed.
While the characters are developed, some of them are still kind of stupid. I know this is a horror film but some of their actions just left me confused. There were a lot of "don't do that" moments but this was kind of expected. The death scenes were pretty nice and stylish. There were some creative ones that are worth checking out. The killers looked scary and they were pretty effective. The ending was kind of disappointing though. I loved watching the whole museum melt down and it looked awesome but the ending still felt a little to simple. Also, I hope they do make a sequel since they left it open for one. In the end, House of Wax is a solid horror film that's worth checking out. Rating 7/10