House of Wax (2005 film)

House of Wax
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jaume Collet-Serra
Produced by	Joel Silver Robert Zemeckis Susan Levin
Written by	Charles Belden Chad Hayes Carey Hayes
Starring	Elisha Cuthbert Chad Michael Murray Brian Van Holt Paris Hilton Jared Padalecki Jon Abrahams Robert Ri'chard
Music by	John Ottman
Cinematography	Stephen Windon
Editing by	Joel Negron
Studio	Village Roadshow Pictures Dark Castle Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	April 30, 2005 (2005-04-30) (Tribeca) May 6, 2005 (2005-05-06) (United States) July 14, 2005 (2005-07-14) (Australia)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$70,064,800

House of Wax (also titled Wax House, Baby) is a 2005 Australian-American horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and stars Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki, Jon Abrahams, and Robert Ri'chard. Released theatrically on May 6, 2005, the film received a general negative critical reception, but was a financial success.

Plot

In 1974, a woman is making a wax sculpture in the kitchen while her son eats breakfast in his highchair. Her husband enters with another son who is shouting and kicking. The boy is forced into a highchair and strapped in place. He scratches his mother's hand, causing her sculpture to fall to the floor.

In 2005, six teenagers are on their way to a highly anticipated football game in Louisiana. Night falls and the group decides to set up camp for the night. The campsite is later visited by a stranger in a pickup truck who shines his lights at the campsite, but refuses to leave or address them until one of the boys smashes a headlight with a bottle. The next morning, one of the cars fan belts is found to be damaged. The group meets a disheveled, rural man named Lester, who offers to drive two of the teens to the nearby town of Ambrose to get a new fan belt, while the rest of them go to the football game.

The two arrive at Ambrose, which is virtually a ghost town. Unable to find an attendant at the auto mechanics shop, they wander into the church, disrupting a funeral. There, they meet a mechanic named Bo, who offers to sell them a fan belt after the funeral. While waiting for the services to end, the two teens visit the wax museum, which itself is made of wax and is the central feature of the town. Afterward, they follow Bo to his house to find a proper fan belt. The teens make the realization that Bo is the stranger that had appeared at the campsite previously, but not before being attacked. The teens are separated and one of them runs to the church, only to find that the funeral is ongoing, populated only by wax sculptures. She is captured by Bo and imprisoned in a cellar, taped to a chair with her lips glued together.

The rest of the group arrives in search of their compatriota, only to be attacked as well. After most of them (including Paris Hilton) are rightfully dispatched, it becomes apparent that the only inhabitants of the town are the sons of the wax museums proprietors, who have been trapping their victims for the creation wax sculptures. The two owners were Siamese twins separated at birth, leaving one of them horribly disfigured and mentally deranged. The two remaining teens set fire in the building's basement to cut their attackers off. The fire spreads through the museum, slowly melting it down. The two teens soon kill the brotherly owners and escape from the wax museum as it melts to the ground, burying the two tragically disturbed brothers in their own work.

The next morning, the smoke from the fire has drawn help from outside and police and rescue workers sift through evidence throughout the town. The sheriff informs the group that the town has been abandoned for a decade, since its sugar mill closed down, and it doesn't even appear on maps anymore. Over the radio, police discuss the Sinclair's third son. The film closes and implies that Lester, who had driven the teens to the town earlier, is the third son.

Cast

• Elisha Cuthbert as Carly Jones
• Chad Michael Murray as Nick Jones
• Brian Van Holt as Bo Sinclair / Vincent Sinclair
  • Thomas Adamson as young Bo
  • Sam Harkess as young Vincent
• Paris Hilton as Paige Edwards
• Jared Padalecki as Wade Dalton
• Jon Abrahams as Dalton Chapman
• Robert Ri'chard as Blake Johnson
• Damon Herriman as Lester Sinclair
• Andy Anderson as Sheriff
• Dragitsa Debert as Trudy Sinclair
• Murray Smith as Dr. Victor Sinclair
• Emma Lung as Jennifer

Production

Principal photography of House of Wax took place in Queensland, Australia in 2004.

Lawsuit

In January 2006, it was announced by Warner Roadshow studio owners Village Theme Park Management and Warner Brothers Movie World Australia that they were suing special effects expert David Fletcher and Wax Productions because of a fire on the set during production.

The $7 million lawsuit alleges that the Mr. Fletcher and Wax Productions were grossly negligent over the fire which destroyed part of the Gold Coast's Warner Bros. Movie World studios. The alleged grounds of negligence included not having firefighters on stand-by and using timber props near a naked flame. The set where the fire broke out has now been demolished and a field kept for Movie World for future projects.

Release

Box office

Opening in 3,111 theaters, the film grossed $12 million in its first three days. Though most critics did not recommend the film, many of them acknowledged that it was well made and/or better than other recent similar films. House of Wax earned $70,064,800 worldwide. 46.6% of that total came from domestic receipts. House of Wax also earned $42,000,000 in VHS/DVD rentals.

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 25% "rotten" rating. It was also nominated for three Razzie Awards including Worst Picture and Worst Remake or Sequel, with Paris Hilton winning Worst Supporting Actress.

Soundtrack

House of Wax: Music from the Motion Picture
Commercial soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various, John Ottman
Released	May 3, 2005 (commercial), May 10, 2005 (score)
Genre	Soundtracks Film scores Alternative metal Gothic rock
Length	50:41 (commercial), 41:46 (score)
Label	Varese Sarabande
Alternative cover
Score soundtrack

House of Wax: Music from the Motion Picture is the title of a publicly released soundtrack used for House of Wax, consisting of commercially recorded songs. A second album, simply titled House of Wax, was released containing the film score, composed by John Ottman.

House of Wax: Music from the Motion Picture
No.	Title	Performer	Length
1.	"Spitfire"	The Prodigy featuring Juliette Lewis	5:08
2.	"Helena"	My Chemical Romance	3:52
3.	"Minerva"	Deftones	4:17
4.	"Gun in Hand"	Stutterfly	3:29
5.	"Prayer"	Disturbed	3:38
6.	"Path to Prevail"	Bloodsimple	3:17
7.	"Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World"	Marilyn Manson	4:15
8.	"Dirt"	The Stooges	7:00
9.	"Not That Social"	The Von Bondies	3:00
10.	"Cut Me Up"	Har Mar Superstar	3:10
11.	"New Dawn Fades"	Joy Division	4:46
12.	"Taking Me Alive"	Dark New Day	4:43
Total length:			50:41

Original Motion Picture Score
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Opening/Tantrum"	3:28
2.	"Ritual/Escape the Church"	4:15
3.	"Story of the Town"	1:39
4.	"Up in Flames"	3:42
5.	"They Look So Real"	2:16
6.	"Sealed Lips"	3:56
7.	"Brotherly Love"	2:28
8.	"Hanging with Baby Jane"	3:36
9.	"Paris Gets It"	3:07
10.	"Curiosity Kills"	2:33
11.	"Bringing Down the House"	5:08
12.	"Three Sons"	2:28
13.	"Endless Service"	2:45
Total length:		41:21

There is a song appearing in the film which is not integrated in the Soundtrack. It is "Roland" by Interpol, and appears in the scene when the group decides to camp over the night at the beginning of the film.

External links

• Official website
• House of Wax at the Internet Movie Database
• House of Wax at Box Office Mojo
• House of Wax at Rotten Tomatoes
• House of Wax at Metacritic