House of Wax

2005 Horror

A bunch of college students are stranded in a small town where suffering for art takes on a whole new meaning in this tale of terror. Carly (Elisha Cuthbert) and her boyfriend, Wade (Jared Padalecki), have hit the road with a handful of their friends to attend a championship college football game; tagging along with them are Carly's bratty friend Paige (Paris Hilton, Carly's trouble-making twin brother Nick (Chad Michael Murray), and Blake (Robert Ri'chard), Paige's latest boy toy. While camping out for the night, the gang makes the mistake of getting on the wrong side of a mysterious local redneck, and the next morning they discover that Wade's car no longer works. As the others continue on to the big game, Carly and Wade make their way into the closest town, Ambrose, and discover it's all but deserted, except for a local tourist attraction, the House of Wax. However, it isn't long before they find out why the wax sculptures at the museum look so freakishly real, and discover a pair of murderous brothers are keen on making them part of the next exhibit. House of Wax is an in-name-only remake of the well-remembered 1953 3-D horror outing starring Vincent Price, which was in turn based on the 1933 picture Mystery of the Wax Museum. more..

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki

Reviews

  • After a month, no one will talk about this movie, ever again. Still, with a picture like this, there's really only one question: Is it any fun? Yes. Lots. Definitely.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    26 April 2013

  • As a frightfest it's better than today's average.

    David Sterritt - Christian Science Monitor

    26 April 2013

  • Except for when Paris is on screen giving us the winking sex eye, Wax is just a museum of gory, joyless, easy shocks.

    - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • Acting is similarly routine with the glorious exception of Hilton, who is so bad she steals the show.

    Kirk Honeycutt - The Hollywood Reporter

    26 April 2013

  • This is slash and burn strictly by the numbers. There's never an ounce of doubt where the movie's going; the only suspense is how long it's going to take to get there and how high the body count is going to get.

    - The Wall Street Journal

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Frightened Performance

    MTV Movie Awards (2006)

     
  • Worst Actress of the Decade

    Razzie Awards (2010)

  • Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure/Thriller

    Teen Choice Awards (2005)