House Of Wax review

"I hope he's not going to get us lost," is one of those corny lines that is the staple of horror films. It appears in House Of Wax along with other classics like, "You're not going to go in there are you?" But while this campy remake of the 1953 frightener is chock full of clichés, it also possesses a delicious excess and a mischievous wit. For all the dumb dialogue and even dumber characters, who have clearly learned nothing from watching horror films and insist on doing all the things common sense would warn against, it is clear that first time director Jaume Collet-Serra has resorted to such trademarks with his tongue firmly in his cheek rather than in desperation.

If the hackneyed premise of six young friends taking an ill-fated road trip were not indication enough of the film's tone, then lines like "Okay, this is getting kinda creepy," or the sight of the two girls heading off into a darkened forest in pursuit of the origins of a putrefying smell, were further clues. At times it felt as if the imperiled friends' worried faces were on the verge of winking knowingly at the camera. In the case of Paris Hilton, it was all she could do to prevent herself giggling. Presumably this had as much to do with being a talentless actress finding herself starring in a Hollywood film as it did to being in on the joke. None of which is to say that House Of Wax doesn't posses its share of scary moments. It does. It also celebrates gore to a grotesque degree, but it's all done with a style, invention and a flair for the dramatic.

The group of friends is heading to a football game in Baton Rouge when fatigue catches up with them and they decide to pull over for the night. What possesses them to camp in a remote wooded spot, having just passed a roadside sign advertising a nearby House Of Wax, is the cinematic equivalent of Darwinism. An encounter with a pick-up driving local ends up having deadly repercussions after sociopath ex- con Nick (Chad Michael Murray) smashes the truck's headlight. The next morning while the girls, Nick's twin Carly (Elisha Cuthbert) and Paige (Hilton), come across a rotting animal graveyard, Carly's boyfriend Wade (Jared Padalecki) discovers his fanbelt's mysteriously broken.

The next fateful error is Carly and Wade accepting the offer of a lift into town by the kind of creepy toothless hick all too readily found in rural horror films. The couple think rescue is at hand when they arrive in the isolated town, but when they venture into the House Of Wax in search of any sign of life and discover that the figures are disturbingly real, they realise their troubles are only just beginning.

As a nod to the 1953 House Of Wax, a pioneering venture in 3-D, one of the remake's villains is called Vincent in recognition of Vincent Price who made his horror debut in the original. Though not exactly groundbreaking, in the 2005 version there are certainly plenty of creative effects to go with the spine-tingling moments. And if those aren't inducement enough, then there's always the delectable Ms Hilton getting a metal rod through her head.