House of Wax *with spoilers!*

[Nate Grey]

Wow, surprised there isn't a thread up like this already.

I saw it opening day. I was curious as heck, since I knew if Paris Hilton was starring, she'd get a funny death scene. And...I was right! That alone could be worth he price of admission. :D

I never saw the original, all I know is that it stars Vincent Price as an artist who likes to make human wax statues. Well, in the remake, the Vincent Price character has been "split" into two: there's Bo, the southern, charming fellow who leads folks to their doom, and then his twin brother, Vincent, a mute artist with a wax facemask who supplies said doom by encasing them in wax.

The teenage fodder/heroes are lead by Nick, played by Chad Michael Murray from "One Tree Hill", a dude who just got out of jail for taking the rap for his friend, Dalton (Boston Public's "Jon Abrahams"), and Nick's twin sister Carly played by Elisa Cuthbert. Nick, his friend Blake ("One On One"'s Robert Ri'chard), Blake's girlfriend Paige (Paris Hilton), Carly and her boyfriend Wade ("Gilmore Girls"'s Dean, Jared Padalecki), are trying to get to a game in time to buy tickets. Along the way, they decide to camp out in open field where they come across a guy in a truck who shines his lights on them (later revealed to be Bo). When the guy won't answer or takes his lights off them, Nick throws a beer bottle and breaks his headlight, making the unseen man drive away. The next day Wade's car's fan belt is busted, so they decide to split up and find a town to get a replacement.

After getting a ride to town by a guy who picks up roadkill for a living, Wade and Carly discover the town appears to be abandoned except for a funeral, which is where they meet Bo. Also in town is The House of Wax, a house made entirely of, well, wax, and filled with lifelike wax figures.

Things pick up when Bo, who owns the town auto shop, gives them a ride to his house since the size of the belt Wade needs is at Bo's house. Wade asks to use the bathroom, but when he's done, in true slasher movie cliche fashion, decides to snoop around. That's pretty much when the gig is up, he gets captured by Vincent and Carly gets captured by Bo after an extended chase. Nick starts to get worried and suspicious so he and Dalton goes to town and looks for his twin sister (who while trying to get Nick's attention from her confines, gets a "circumcision" of sorts). Again, in true slasher movie cliche fashion, Nick and Dalton split up and Dalton is promptly killed, but Nick, in kind of a break from the usual fare, proves to be a worth adversary to Bo.

Bo, played by Brian Van Holt who looks like Bill Paxton's long lost brother, is amazingly strong, but not so much as his twin brother Vincent (again played by Holt) who seems strong, fast, and nearly invincible. The story with those two is that they were siamese twins at birth: Vincent was born with the right side of his face attached to the back of Bo's head. Their father seperated them, but got his license suspended for "experiments against humanity" or some such so they moved to that small town. There, their mother kinda went nuts cause of a cyst in her head, and became obsessed with art.

All in all, pretty gory movie. The best sequence, I feel, is when the House of Wax starts melting. I'd give it a sold ** stars. :D

[Cayman]

Explain this mysterious circumcision thing.

Cay

[Nate Grey]

Explain this mysterious circumcision thing.

Cay

lol someone in chat (Ronald something, I think), referred to it that way.

Basically when Bo finally caught Carly, he superglued her mouth shut(!!!), then tied her to an old hospital bed in a room that was right underneath the garage he owned. Above, Nick was there talking to Bo, trying to find his sister. Carly heard them through a metal grating on the ceiling, and could even see them a bit, so she freed herself enough to stick her finger through the grating, hoping Nick would see it. He never did, but Bo saw it. While still talking to Nick, Bo bent down with his back to Nick, pulled out some wire cutters, and cut off the tip of her finger and put the tip in his pocket.

[Royal]

If it takes you 50 mins. to develop suspence as well as characters, you might as well quit.

Oh. And Vincent Price's movie is a remake. The original is Mystery of the Wax Museam in 1933

[Royal]

Also, the movie was more of a remake of Tourist Trap, not House of Wax.

[JohnPopa]

If it takes you 50 mins. to develop suspence as well as characters, you might as well quit.



Why can't it take fifty minutes? Halloween goes probably longer than that without having anything happen, other than some red herring attacks.

I haven't seen 'House of Wax' so I'm not defending it specifically, but I think horror as a whole would be better served by slowing down, rather than thinking violence=horror=suspense.

[Michael P]

Why can't it take fifty minutes? Halloween goes probably longer than that without having anything happen, other than some red herring attacks.
Because it's possible to do it in less, say, 25. Scream spends five-ten minutes killing Drew Barrymore (there's your suspense) and another ten-fifteen introducing us to Sydney (her mom was murdered, everyone thinks her dad did it, and it was a lot like what happened to Drew) and her friends (the slut, the goofball, the nerd, and the moody boyfriend). And then they kill Henry Winkler. That's how you start a horror movie.

[Cayman]

lol someone in chat (Ronald something, I think), referred to it that way.

Basically when Bo finally caught Carly, he superglued her mouth shut(!!!), then tied her to an old hospital bed in a room that was right underneath the garage he owned. Above, Nick was there talking to Bo, trying to find his sister. Carly heard them through a metal grating on the ceiling, and could even see them a bit, so she freed herself enough to stick her finger through the grating, hoping Nick would see it. He never did, but Bo saw it. While still talking to Nick, Bo bent down with his back to Nick, pulled out some wire cutters, and cut off the tip of her finger and put the tip in his pocket.

Ewww, icky.

Cay

[DDM]

I never saw the original, all I know is that it stars Vincent Price as an artist who likes to make human wax statues. Well, in the remake, the Vincent Price character has been "split" into two: there's Bo, the southern, charming fellow who leads folks to their doom, and then his twin brother, Vincent, a mute artist with a wax facemask who supplies said doom by encasing them in wax.

The Vincent Price House of Wax is a remake of The Mystery of the Wax Museum. Therefore, the 2005 House of Wax is a remake of a remake. Get it?

[eJm]

Wow, surprised there isn't a thread up like this already.

I saw it opening day. I was curious as heck, since I knew if Paris Hilton was starring, she'd get a funny death scene. And...I was right! That alone could be worth he price of admission. :D

I never saw the original, all I know is that it stars Vincent Price as an artist who likes to make human wax statues. Well, in the remake, the Vincent Price character has been "split" into two: there's Bo, the southern, charming fellow who leads folks to their doom, and then his twin brother, Vincent, a mute artist with a wax facemask who supplies said doom by encasing them in wax.

The teenage fodder/heroes are lead by Nick, played by Chad Michael Murray from "One Tree Hill", a dude who just got out of jail for taking the rap for his friend, Dalton (Boston Public's "Jon Abrahams"), and Nick's twin sister Carly played by Elisa Cuthbert. Nick, his friend Blake ("One On One"'s Robert Ri'chard), Blake's girlfriend Paige (Paris Hilton), Carly and her boyfriend Wade ("Gilmore Girls"'s Dean, Jared Padalecki), are trying to get to a game in time to buy tickets. Along the way, they decide to camp out in open field where they come across a guy in a truck who shines his lights on them (later revealed to be Bo). When the guy won't answer or takes his lights off them, Nick throws a beer bottle and breaks his headlight, making the unseen man drive away. The next day Wade's car's fan belt is busted, so they decide to split up and find a town to get a replacement.

After getting a ride to town by a guy who picks up roadkill for a living, Wade and Carly discover the town appears to be abandoned except for a funeral, which is where they meet Bo. Also in town is The House of Wax, a house made entirely of, well, wax, and filled with lifelike wax figures.

Things pick up when Bo, who owns the town auto shop, gives them a ride to his house since the size of the belt Wade needs is at Bo's house. Wade asks to use the bathroom, but when he's done, in true slasher movie cliche fashion, decides to snoop around. That's pretty much when the gig is up, he gets captured by Vincent and Carly gets captured by Bo after an extended chase. Nick starts to get worried and suspicious so he and Dalton goes to town and looks for his twin sister (who while trying to get Nick's attention from her confines, gets a "circumcision" of sorts). Again, in true slasher movie cliche fashion, Nick and Dalton split up and Dalton is promptly killed, but Nick, in kind of a break from the usual fare, proves to be a worth adversary to Bo.

Bo, played by Brian Van Holt who looks like Bill Paxton's long lost brother, is amazingly strong, but not so much as his twin brother Vincent (again played by Holt) who seems strong, fast, and nearly invincible. The story with those two is that they were siamese twins at birth: Vincent was born with the right side of his face attached to the back of Bo's head. Their father seperated them, but got his license suspended for "experiments against humanity" or some such so they moved to that small town. There, their mother kinda went nuts cause of a cyst in her head, and became obsessed with art.

All in all, pretty gory movie. The best sequence, I feel, is when the House of Wax starts melting. I'd give it a sold ** stars. :D
Jeez...this movie sounds worse than I thought.

A whole town made out of wax?!

What were they smoking?

[JohnPopa]

'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (the REAL one) doesn't kill anyone for about an hour and doesn't even hint that the killers are out there in that time.

And the original script of 'Scream' didn't have the Winkler scene. They added it to appease Miramax who thinks like you do, that you have to kill someone every 10 minutes in a horror movie or else the audience will get restless. I'm pretty sure 'Scream' would be the same movie today had they not plugged that scene in.

[DDM]

Also, the movie was more of a remake of Tourist Trap, not House of Wax.

Tourist Trap is twisted. However, I can see comparisons between the new House of Wax & 1982's Tourist Trap.

[Royal]

Why can't it take fifty minutes? Halloween goes probably longer than that without having anything happen, other than some red herring attacks.

I haven't seen 'House of Wax' so I'm not defending it specifically, but I think horror as a whole would be better served by slowing down, rather than thinking violence=horror=suspense.

in Halloween, You had suspence from the start. "A raving lunatic has laid waste to an asylum & is on the loose". You've got that in the back of your head while Jamie Lee & her friends set up what the night is going to be like as well as the street plan. That's good. That's Slow Burn.

House of Wax never went beyond "kids taking a detour to football game" There was just a bunch of whiny kids on the screen arguing & giving grimaces over trivial things aaannnddd cue spooky music.

[Royal]

Tourist Trap is twisted. However, I can see comparisons between the new House of Wax & 1982's Tourist Trap.

Well yeah. I wouldn't expect Dark Castle to go that balls out. :rolleyes:

[Royal]

'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (the REAL one) doesn't kill anyone for about an hour and doesn't even hint that the killers are out there in that time.


It's not about killing anyone, it's about keeping an even level of suspence before the blood starts running. The flashbulb sequence, the sitting courpse & the hitchhiker sequence all kept that suspense level on high. So when Leatherface comes out with that mallet, it's going to hit you harder more then the victims.

[Nate Grey]

Oh. And Vincent Price's movie is a remake. The original is Mystery of the Wax Museam in 1933


Also, the movie was more of a remake of Tourist Trap, not House of Wax.

I'll have to check out both those movies. A lot of movies are getting remade, and somehow I haven't seen a lot of the originals. Its not cause of lack of interest, cause I love a good, old/b&w movie.

[Nate Grey]

Jeez...this movie sounds worse than I thought.

A whole town made out of wax?!

What were they smoking?

No, no, I apologize if I wasn't clear (I was typing on my lunch break and therefore on a time limit). The town itself was real, just abandoned except for Bo and Vincent (they had turned the town's previous residents, and any out of towners, apparantly, into wax statues). However, in that abandoned town was, litteraly, a house of wax, which was really for all intents and purposes a museum. Vincent would kill/maim the victim (and if they were still alive he'd shoot something in them that made them groogy), cover them with wax, shape them, put clothes back on them, then put them up on display above. And when I say above, I mean the furnace and all that, Vincen't studio, so to speak, was underneath the house of wax. So why it hadn't burned down or melted long before Nick over turned the cauldron at the end...no clue.

[DDM]

Jeez...this movie sounds worse than I thought.

A whole town made out of wax?!

What were they smoking?

Maybe the 2005 House of Wax should not call The Wicker Man... :p

[Atomic Mongoose]

I saw House Of Wax and, what can I say, it served it's purpose. I was entertained. I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking and all that. It was no Scream, but I didn't feel like I wanted my $7 back.

I remember when they first started promoting the film back in March, over Spring Break. MTV was interviewing Paris Hilton, and lil' Paris proceeded to prove that she is not to be trusted when it comes to keeping story details a suprise. I mean, I know it was obvious she was going to die in the movie, but she just let it slip right out during the interview. I think the question was "What was the hardest scene for you to do?", and Paris' answer was "Ummm... I dunno, it was all hot... probably my death scene. Yeah, my death scene was definitely the scariest to shoot. Yeah, my death scene for sure." *GROAN* Somebody please explain to her what a confidentiality clause is.

[bert]

Well. . for what it was, I too was entertained.

I didn't mind the slow set up, and the set-pieces (particularly under the gas station, and in the actual House of Wax) were very well done.

Fantastic job on the gore too. . .they really went all out.

Only real issue I had was a character remaining alive well after he'd been coated in wax. . no way. . of course, none of the film is believable anyways.

A solid ** film, even tho, for an 80's Slasher-Flick throwback, I was amazed there was no (as NONE AT ALL) nudity. Not even a stunt boob was flashed.

Nate> The film isn't a Remake of either earlier "Wax" films. All Dark Castle took was the NAME, and then wrote an all new film around it. Oh, I definately recommend the earlier films -- as they are fun/campy enjoyment. . but this new version is actually MUCH more similar to "Tourist Trap" -- as others have mentioned.

[Nate Grey]

Nate> The film isn't a Remake of either earlier "Wax" films. All Dark Castle took was the NAME, and then wrote an all new film around it. Oh, I definately recommend the earlier films -- as they are fun/campy enjoyment. . but this new version is actually MUCH more similar to "Tourist Trap" -- as others have mentioned.

Why does everyone keep repeating this? I got it the first time someone mentioned it, and I wasn't the only one who made that mistake (the local newspaper reviewer didn't know it was a remake of a remake either). I understand, I get it, I believe it, I'll watch it when I can. Sheesh.

[eJm]

I saw House Of Wax and, what can I say, it served it's purpose. I was entertained. I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking and all that. It was no Scream, but I didn't feel like I wanted my $7 back.

I remember when they first started promoting the film back in March, over Spring Break. MTV was interviewing Paris Hilton, and lil' Paris proceeded to prove that she is not to be trusted when it comes to keeping story details a suprise. I mean, I know it was obvious she was going to die in the movie, but she just let it slip right out during the interview. I think the question was "What was the hardest scene for you to do?", and Paris' answer was "Ummm... I dunno, it was all hot... probably my death scene. Yeah, my death scene was definitely the scariest to shoot. Yeah, my death scene for sure." *GROAN* Somebody please explain to her what a confidentiality clause is.
No, what she is doing is getting people to actually SEE the movie because she dies in it.

I however, will wait until someone makes a video clip of just her death

[bert]

Why does everyone keep repeating this? I got it the first time someone mentioned it, and I wasn't the only one who made that mistake (the local newspaper reviewer didn't know it was a remake of a remake either). I understand, I get it, I believe it, I'll watch it when I can. Sheesh.


it's in the wording you are using. . .

based on the above statement, you'll probably get it again.

The new House of Wax is NOT a "remake".

by using that word, you're implying that it is a remake of an earlier film, and that is why you keep getting "corrected" that it's a NEW film, using an older film's title.

That's not a remake. It's not even a "re-imagining" like they did w/ the new versions of Dawn of the Dead, and Texas Chainsaw Massacres -- since those films kept the plot the same.

The only film it resembles in terms of "re-imagining" is Tourist Trap (which is whay that keeps getting mentioned)

This is an ENTIRELY new film, simply springboarding off the name. . or to put it into comics terms:

Stan Lee's Just Imagine line for DC weren't "remakes" of the characters. they were all new characters using the same names.

[Greg Hatcher]

Okay, I just deleted a very silly argumernt out of here after several people mentioned it to me, and if I see any more of the like, the participants get a week off. Period. I don't CARE who started it or who was right, I care about no fighting on this board. The end. So please, no more e-mailing or PM'ing about it. Just know that any more fighting gets you a week's vacation and move on to something else.

[bert]

Okay, I just deleted a very silly argumernt out of here after several people mentioned it to me, and if I see any more of the like, the participants get a week off. Period. I don't CARE who started it or who was right, I care about no fighting on this board. The end. So please, no more e-mailing or PM'ing about it. Just know that any more fighting gets you a week's vacation and move on to something else.

Just a comment. . .

since I didn't PM or email - hell, I didn't even know it was an "argument"

when did it get so insane that you can't have a disagreement without being threatened with a Week's banning?

(shakes his head that ANYONE would bother "reporting post" from what was here. . . . )

[Greg Hatcher]

Just a comment. . .

since I didn't PM or email - hell, I didn't even know it was an "argument"

when did it get so insane that you can't have a disagreement without being threatened with a Week's banning?

(shakes his head that ANYONE would bother "reporting post" from what was here. . . . )

Disagree all you like. When it gets personal and when it gets reported is when I take an interest. And that interest is basically, "If you're going to get so huffed up about this ridiculous piece of trivia that you are going to get personal, then you can heed this warning or take some time off."

What part of DROP IT AND MOVE ON are you not getting? I have already wasted more time on this than any sane person should have to -- and so have you. Last warning.