Product Details

• Actors: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki
• Directors: Jaume Collet-serra
• Writers: Charles Belden, Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes
• Producers: Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, Susan Levin, Herbert W. Gains
• Format: Dolby, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
• DVD Release Date: October 25, 2005
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (293 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000AM4P9K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,893 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "House of Wax (Widescreen Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

You know the one about the group of horny kids who get offed one by one? Yeah, so do director Jaume Collet-Serra and his screenwriters, who have updated an old Vincent Price flick and sandwiched it between hearty slices of The Blair Witch Project and various Friday the 13th films. Lots of WB and Fox network hotties--including 24's Elisha Cuthbert, One Tree Hill's Chad Michael Murray, and, well, Paris Hilton--have car trouble and stumble onto a town populated by real killer personalities. The R-rated result is fairly gruesome and, though no one ever quite looks frightened enough, Collet-Serra knows his way around a jolting suspense sequence or two. Cuthbert and an unintentionally funny Murray (striking ludicrous poses as some kind of real toughie) act more like angry ex-lovers than the fraternal twins they're supposed to be; Hilton acts bored while her real-life video scandal is exploited for ironic kicks; and the film heads shamelessly over-the-top with each new twist. As an exercise in bloody mayhem, it has a few novel touches, but you can easily find better scares. --Steve Wiecking

Product Description

House of Wax tells the story of a group of friends who fall prey to a sinister plot while passing through a small town on their way to a college football game.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Expect nothing and be surprised, it's good August 21, 2005

By T. Sherrod

This is a good scary/suspense/slasher movie, so why should the critics like it? They usually don't anyway. I went into the theater expecting nothing and really liked the movie. Now take into account I have never seen the "original" (by the way this is not a re-make, it only borrows the name) so I had no idea what to expect. Ok, I really went to see it because of Elisha Cuthbert (total babe!) but after a few minutes I found myself into the movie. In this type of movie, it is a good idea to pick things out and remember them, and of coarse I did not. I would give an example, but I do not want to give anything away here. But I had to ask on a message board at imdb to find the answer and the movie fooled me. If you have not seen it, what I just wrote will make no sense so skip my last sentence. Anyway, I am not gonna go over what others have already beat to death, no pun intended, like how Paris dies and things like that. If you want to see a scary movie, then see this with NO expectations, and you should not be disappointed. I liked it enough to buy the DVD when it comes out.

39 of 46 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A TERRIFIC GOOD RIDE WITH ALL THE THINGS A SLASHER FAN WANTS!! October 11, 2005

By Paulo Leite VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

At first, I wasn't expecting anything from this movie... I thought "well, here we go again for another stupid slasher with nothing new to offer".

But I was wrong. In fact I found this film to be a terrific new entry into the slasher genre.

The screenplay is very nice. I does not start to kill people right away.. it develops the story... lets you know ter characters... and THEN... just when you are dying to see some killings... it starts.

...And never lets go. The plot is better than you'd expect. Not the usual "six kids get to a wax museum". Instead they get separated in three groups (which opens the space for three almost-independent storylines). This may not look much... but in fact it allows the screenplay to build some plausability and complications. The characters come and go separate ways and the script creates great shock moments exactly at the moment different storylines meet.

And the killings... they are brutal, sadistic... and go beyond the usual "slash-and-you're-dead"... In fact (laughs) nobody dies at first. The screenplay takes the detail up to the limit. All the killings are beautifully constructed.

Without wanting to spoil the fun, I just should say this film goes further on the sadistic things the killers do. Much further than what was acceptable years ago.

I think this film brought new breath to the genre.

Casting is good, makeup is fine. Directing is solid, art direction is discreet enough... I really liked it.

Of course there are better films made 20 or 30 years ago. But this one sits along the best slashers in the last 10 years (if it is not THE best one in 10 years).

But beware! This film is very cruel! Maybe you would like to pass on it if you play the piano, if you love your fingers... or if you like to walk barefooted.

By the way... It has nothing to do with the 1953 Vincent Price version... just the title and what it suggests.

Obviously, this DVD is a great buy. Watch it alone... or with friends... with 2 tons of popcorn. Great!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars HOUSE OF WAX surprised me as being chilling, thrilling, and one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. December 31, 2005

By Jeremy G.

Format:DVD

I hadn't heard great things about HOUSE OF WAX. Knowing Paris Hilton was one of the stars, I assumed that the bad comments I read had to be right. But one afternoon, when I was incredibly bored, I decided to rent HOUSE OF WAX as a way to be entertained for the day. Boy, was I amazed to find that it was one of the most fantastic and creepiest slasher films I had ever seen. True, slasher films are usually terribly made, contain a plot that goes nowhere, and gorgeous actors and actresses. Though HOUSE OF WAX has many qualities of a slasher, it's an exception to the garbage everyone knows and hates.

Six teens (though Carly and her brother Nick are the stars) on their way to a football game find themselves victims to the evil that lies in an abandoned town. The only remaining residents are two murderous brothers--and those that they turn into wax sculptures. Now, Carly and her five friends must do whatever it takes to protect themselves from falling prey and becoming the next victims of the deadly house of wax. Although it doesn't take that long for you to figure out who's going to survive and who's going to die, you'll find yourself gasping with suspense when you see one of the characters drop dead.

While others may disagree with me on this, I thought the acting wasn't that bad. Elisha Cuthbert (Carly) played a great job as the heroine, and when Jared Padalecki (Wade) was in pain, so was I. And while Paris Hilton (Paige) definitely is not going to win an Oscar for this role, or for any role, but her acting wasn't that bad. The only acting problem I have is that Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray (Nick) had WAY too much chemistry on screen. They were supposed to be brother and sister, but at many parts throughout the film, I was getting the impression that they were more than just siblings.

I'm not the type of person who gets scared by horror movies easily, and in the daytime, I thought I wouldn't be frightened at all. But at many, many times, I found myself covered in fear. The gory parts are probably what scared me the most. The make-up person gets major props to pulling off some of the most hideous things I have ever seen. But the make-up person isn't the only one who deserves credit--the entire cast and crew do. HOUSE OF WAX managed to give me an interesting story, scare me, and present great actors. When a horror movie is able to pull off all of the above, you can tell that it's a winner.