House of Wax (2005) Review

 

House of Wax is not a film I would call good. However, in all honesty it was still a hell of a lot better than I was expecting. The good parts, while standing strong on their own, were oftentimes overshadowed by the bad. The scares were genuine but were often blocked out by its bad writing and mostly horrible acting.

The characters, while not deep, did possess a sense of humanity. How a character acted and responded to any particular situation was not so much set in stone but was fluid. Their actions and words responded to their character as they grew.

The writing, however, was just terrible and the acting didn’t help any either. Their characters, though, were still written in a way to convey their independent personalities. They weren’t just cookie cutters of each other. They were genuinely different and each brought something different to the film.

The scares were pretty good, too. You never really had a clue about what was going to happen next. There were times where I was literally shocked. Parts of this film, however, did feel a little lazy. There were a few opportunities where the cast had a chance to take out the antagonist but failed to do so. It’s like, in some instances, they didn’t even try.

Parts of this film were kinda predictable but that didn’t really take anything from it. The ending, while subtle in its execution, was legitimately terrifying and opened up the opportunity for a sequel.

While this film is by no means a masterpiece it is still worth a watch. Just don’t go into it expecting it to be the next big thing. Just go along for the ride.

7 out of 10