Post by Mr.HoRrOr on May 5, 2005 21:39:08 GMT -5
Plot:A detour leads a group of college students on their way to a college football game to come across a museum overseen by two sadistic brothers.
Cast:
Elisha Cuthbert
Chad Michael Murray
Brian Van Holt
Paris Hilton
Jared Padalecki
Jon Abrahams
Robert Ri'chard
Dragicia Debert
My thoughts:I've never seen such an interesting,edge of your seat,unique, and creative climax of this magnitude in a horror movie...ever.
Review:This is yet another Dark Castle entry which makes this film number 5 under their belts. The most recent being "Gothika" which came out about 2 years ago. "House of Wax" was originally scheduled for release last year October. But a fire on the set pretty much killed any chances of that happening.Thus it's release tomorrow.I was lucky enough to catch a pre-screening of the film earlier tonight. The verdict?Is "House of Wax" a great horror movie?Not great, but close.It falls more along the lines of being a good/very good horror film. After an interlude which takes place in the early 1970s, where we are shown the abusive childhood of a kid, the film kicks into present day.The plot is nothing we haven't seen before.A group of teens on their way to a college football game get detoured (more on this detour later in the review), and they decide to get some sleep and continue driving in the morning. While the teens are doing their usual drinking,getting stoned,hijinx stuff, an eerie truck pulls up, and startles the group. After Nick aka Chad Michael Murray aka the badass of the film, tosses a beer bottle at the truck smashing it's headlight,the driver drives off. All seems fine until the next morning,the kids wake to find the fanbelt on one of their cars destroyed,thus stranding some of the group in the middle of nowhere while the others decide to drive ahead to try and make the ball game. The characters are all a pretty likeable group of kids, which is what alot of horror movies slashers in particular, lack. Even Miss Hilton as Paige was likeable. I actually liked Paris Hilton in this movie. Something I thought I'd never be saying. The story between the characters is set up quickly which is pretty usual for this type of movie. Were fed a brother/sister tension subplot between Carly (Elisha Cuthbert) and Nick (Chad Michael Murray),and The subplot of everyone pretty much hates Wade (Jared Padelecki) since hes the only born and raised smalltowner of the bunch."House of Wax" takes it's time setting things up so when things really get good, it's much more enjoyable for the audience. Yet at the same time the movie gives us enough jump scares, and quick hitters to keep the audiences interest up until the films grand finale,the key word there being *Grand*. Another thing you have to like about this movie, is that it toys with you as far as who the villain is. and When it finally does decide to reveal who the villains are, it's done in a very suspenseful way.The "House of Wax" itself is a pretty awesome set piece. The wax statues inside are very well crafted and realistic. Adding a real tension and unsettling feel to the scenes which take place inside it. I even expected some of them to jump to life at some point during the movie.The "House of Wax" also plays a huge role in one of the films numerous big twists. This particular Dark Castle movie also has some of the best kills of all of the 4 previous films. Seriously,these are some brutal kills people. We get decaps, impalements, tendon slashings,all of the stuff we as horror movie fans have come to know and love in our genre of film. It's great stuff. The movie really kicks into high gear once whats left of the kids realize whats going on in this town and decide to take on their attackers and put an end to their sadistic plans. It's in the scenes leading up to the grand finally where Elisha Cuthbert does her best job of acting in this film. Kudos to the DC people for writing her character as an outside the box female character,as opposed to the usual stereotypical idiot types. Her character Carly is smart,strong,and makes all the right decisions once she realizes her and her friends are in danger.The films finale is a visual masterpiece, and gives new meaning to the words unique and creative. I've seen horror films with great,blow you away endings, and this one ranks higher because of the idea to utilize the House of Wax as a player within the final battle taking place inside it.
Thus making for a great finale. "House" does have it's problems though, it's not totally flawless due to a few headscratching decisions made by the last two remaining characters near the end, and the ending itself was just utterly pointless, with the exception of an explanation from the police about this so called *Detour* the kids took which led up to all the bloodshed,carnage and mayhem that took place in the movie.All in all "House of Wax" has most of the elements for a successful horror movie. Awesome kills,suspenseful scenes,twisted villains,loads of twists,some nicely done jump scares, and the X factor,likeable characters.I can't honestly predict how this will do in theaters come Monday. It's gotten enough promotion,thats for sure. Honestly, it's the kind of movie that could go either way when it comes to being a success financially for Dark Castle. I know the crowd I saw it with loved every moment of it. That atleast is a good sign.
Pros:Nice bloody and realistic kills, likeable characters,badass villains,and some scenes that will really make you cringe.Particularly one that takes place inside the wax museum with Wade.
Cons: Once again in this movie we get an ending that really doesn't fit with the movie.I also wasn't too fond of Carlys decision to try and reason with her attacker during the finally. I feel these scenes are always pointless 9 times out of 10 in a horror movie.Also I felt the Wade character made an awful amount of bad decisions.Normally in a horror movie, you are going to have characters who do stupid things most of the time, but with the Wade character, it was kind of overkill.
Overall:Fun,entertaining,bloody,gory,twisted,and shocking. "House of Wax" makes up for DC's 4th lackluster entry "Gothika". Because of it's story, and villains, It succeeds in taking a standard slasher film to much higher levels, thus making itself into a true horror movie.