House of Wax

by Alex Rieneck

House of Wax
Director:Jaume Collet-Serra
Writers (WGA):Charles Belden (story)
Chad Hayes (screenplay) ...

House of Wax on IMDB

It is an odd feeling to encounter a film that is far, far better than you expect it to be. You sit in your chair. You think, “has someone drugged my tea with credulity pills?” or if you are less paranoid and more inclined to hypochondria, “have I had a stroke, and gotten stupider?”

The remake of “House of Wax” is a good example of this. I have no great love of either of the original versions. I am not a big lover of the modern take on the horror movie which seem to always be shot in the dark and to concentrate on close-ups of people’s snot. Lastly, as I have gotten older I find that I scare more easily and, at the same time being scared seems to affect me less pleasantly and, consequently I have less interest in being scared. All up, things did not bode well for this film.

On the other hand, as you may know, I rather like Paris Hilton. I think she is one of the worlds more interesting people at present. And I used to like horror movies. And, at some point the negatives surrounding “House of Wax” balanced with the positives, and when I saw the film as a rental DVD, I rented it. I told myself that, after all, I could just turn it off.

As it happened, I didn’t. I watched the whole thing, right through, even though it scared me frequently and grossed me out more than a few times. As a matter of fact this version of “House of Wax” is the first film, probably ever, to get me to scream out loud “Oh YUCK” and almost jump right out of my chair. What can I say? I was taken completely by surprise and still feel slightly sick when I think of the shot in question. Congratulations are in order to the filmmakers.

Aside from the fact that “House of Wax” had me properly on edge for its entire length and frightened the tar out of me more than once, it is also a very well made film in its own right and its main strengths lie in its originality. While it may seem strange to accuse a remake of a remake of being “original” especially a film as studded with homages and respectful nods as this one is, but against all the odds “House of Wax” is just that. I its a good film when by rights it should be a bad one, with a good script, in a world where stupid scripts get the best audiences, with real acting in a market which tolerates “Big Brother” and with a director who understands far more than by-the-numbers blizzard editing and how to fix mistakes in filming with post-production CG inserts. In fact, the most shocking thing about “House of Wax” is that it isn’t shit, in a world where shit sells, and sells well.

Of course, in its way “House of Wax” is actually shit. After all films about groups of young people who stumble onto towns emptied by serial killers can’t in all honesty be termed anything else. When the said serial killers live in a multi-storey house (get this) made completely out of actual real wax... as in, the floors, doors, supporting joints, roof... are all wax... well; scatological comparisons are inescapable if not demanded. The thing is, “House of Wax” is well-enough made to maintain the suspension of disbelief to bounce the viewer over the more obvious holes in the ideas so that eventually, the “House of Wax” itself becomes, rather than a plot hole, a huge and intellectually sustainable symbol. After all, horror movies have been doing such things since “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari”, and in some cases, doing them well. It is one of the main reasons I have watched so many horror films over the years and in the search for good stuff, subjected myself to so much pain. In the case of “House of Wax” the symbol works, and works well and drags the film so far above the common ruck of stuff that calls itself “horror” nowadays as to be truly surprising. As a matter of fact, I am intending to buy a copy of “House of Wax” on DVD. I liked it that much.

Lastly. Paris Hilton. As far as I am concerned, she can act. I had no problem with seeing her as her character rather than as a media celebrity and she certainly acted at least as well as the rest of the cast, even if (in my opinion) she has rather more in the way of “star quality” than anyone else in the film. It is odd how some people attract the eye when they are on screen and some people do not. Whatever that attribute may be, and whatever you may think of it, Paris Hilton has it, and she can act. In all honesty I was somewhat surprised to realise that, too. When I think about it I don’t know why. Maybe I have been absorbing too much garbage media.

All in all “House of Wax” is a fine film. It is a horror film, true enough, but it is a good horror film and if they made more ones like this, people would not think so badly of the genre. Rent it. Make an evening of it. But take my advice. Just time your sips of tea carefully.

Alex Rieneck