Waxwork (9/25/12)

Movie Two Hundred Eighteen

A group of college students happen upon a wax museum were the exhibits are more than they seem in Waxwork.

When a waxwork is opened near a small college town, several students decide to visit it one night after being invited by a mysterious old man who quickly disappears. Once inside the waxwork, the students split up and find that if they enter the displays of the waxwork, they become part of the scene being depicted. After fighting dracula and a werewolf, the two teens escape the displays but their two friends go missing and become part of the displays they entered. As the disappearances continue, the town begins to catch on that something strange is happening at the waxwork.

I put on Waxwork one afternoon when I wanted to watch something and turn my brain off. It turns out, Waxwork was pretty good for that as it is a silly horror movie, but the fun comes because it doesn’t take itself seriously. The premise is simple and has just the right amount of cheese to it that makes it fun. It’s not a great movie but it’s a fun one and it actually almost makes a neat precursor to Cabin in the Woods.

All told, the acting is probably what you would expect from a horror movie from the 80s – that is to say it’s terrible. The special effects fare a little better but I think part of the point of the effects was to make it seem stilted like an actual wax museum exhibit, so I’ll give it a pass. Somehow I missed this one when I used to religiously watch horror movies and I’m glad that I was finally able to see it, but I wish I had more film peers to compare it to.

There isn’t much I have to say about Waxwork other than it surprised me. I was expecting a dumb horror movie and Waxwork provided a lot of the fun of a good, dumb horror movie, but in a (mostly) smart way. Fans of the horror genre have likely already seen this one but if you haven’t and want a better than average 80s horror movie, Waxwork is worth your time.

I give it 3 wicked waxwork werewolves out of 5.

Links:

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IMDB