House of Wax (2005) - Appreciation for Collet-Sera's horror debut

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A nubile young female is naked and covered in running wax on this eerie and sexually charged poster for Jaume Collet-Sera's House of Wax

A teenage outing strands in a small, deserted town, which has been made by Siamese twins - in wax ...

 

House of Wax is written by brothers Chad and Cary W. Hayes (The Conjuring (2013)) and directed by debuting, great Spanish filmmaker Jaume Collet-Sera (Non-Stop (2014)). It is a remake of the 1953 3D hit of the same title, which seems to only maintain one thing from the original: The culminating wax fire!

The story has several narrative holes, SPOILER and the otherwise cool ending, in which the entire house melts, gets a unnecessary third brother twist added to it, an obvious ploy to entice audiences for a possible sequel. But the special effects are cool and gruesome, the town is cool, and House of Wax is a fun film to watch, even if Collet-Sera doesn't manage to impress as a great director yet here.

 

Related post:

Jaume Collet-Sera: The Shallows (2016) or, Stuck on a Rock 

Non-Stop (2014) or, The Text Messaging Terrorist! 

 

Watch short red carpet interviews with the film's young stars at its premiere here

 

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 70 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2 times its cost)

[House of Wax premiered 26 April (Los Angeles) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place from May 2004 - ? in Australia. A massive fire destroyed most or all of the Warner Bros. studio in Queensland, Australia, and resulted in a 2006 negligence lawsuit to the tune of 7 mil. $. The conclusion is not readily found online. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Kingdom of Heaven, to a 12 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 32 mil. $ (45.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 5.3 mil. $ (7.6 %) and Spain with 3.3 mil. $ (4.7 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. The film reportedly earned more than 42.1 mil. $ on VHS/DVD rentals. Collet-Sera returned with Goal II: Living the Dream (2007). Chad Michael Murray (Colors of Love (2021)) returned in Home of the Brave (2006); Elisha Cuthbert (The Girl Next Door (2004)) in The Quiet (2005). House of Wax is rotten at 26 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of House of Wax? 

The Conjuring 2 (2016) - Wan's sequel is a long horror treat with terrifying periods

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Vera Farmiga looks terrified on this poster for James Wan's The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2 is the sequel to great Malaysian co-writer/director James Wan's (Insidious (2010)) excellent 2013 horror hit The Conjuring. He has co-written the script with Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes (The Conjuring, both) and David Leslie Johnson (Red Riding Hood (2011)).

In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren are taking a time-out from hauntings, when a desperate cry for help reaches them from a family in Enfield, London, England, whose house is under attack by a malicious demon.

Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air (2009)) and Patrick Wilson (Prometheus (2012)) are back as the Warrens, and the two add a crucial ingredient to the films, which is their intense likability, but also a refreshing note of romance here in the successful second Conjuring. The film also manages to squeeze in a couple of humorous moments that don't affect the general tone, which is admirable. - That is a general tone of menace and otherworldly evil, which makes the film periodically quite scary. SPOILER It opens with a pre-story, the Amityville Horror, (a famous US haunting that has already inspired several horror films), which I found more chilling than the Annabelle pre-story in the first film.

Some of the 'tricks' of the film are very similar to the goings-on in the first film, (a lot of walking around the house at night and so on), and so we know what to expect this time, which makes it harder to surprise us. The story also has some weak corners that are best overlooked while watching it, but which are hard not to wonder about after: SPOILER First of all, what does it take for the seemingly 'all-powerful' Catholic Church to become convinced and show up and help? (The police seem convinced of the truthfulness of the haunting.) SPOILER Also the solution to the struggle seems to come almost out of the sky from two tapes crossing before Wilson's eyes... (but what the heck.)
Because Conjuring 2 is still solid filmmaking: The production design of the house is outstanding, - it seems unhealthy to the core, marred by the poverty that defines the mother who tries to raise her young there. SPOILER and the basement flooding is a cool addition. The film has effective jump scares, but also takes more than 20 minutes longer (and double the budget) of the terrific original. Some undoubtedly used on the crooked man CGI effects, which nevertheless don't register as scary. The nun sequences, on the other hand, are among the film's best, which has a primary ghost in old dead man Bill Wilkins.
Simon McBurney (The Last King of Scotland (2006)) is good as a British paranormal investigator, who contributes a touching moment, and Madison Wolfe (Joy (2015)) and Frances O'Connor (Jayne Mansfield's Car (2012)) are both good as the demonized girl and her stressed-out mother.
The Conjuring 2 is an unapologetically Christian horror movie, - which its posters also don't hide, and which I like. Horror fans are sure to enjoy it voraciously.

Related posts:

James Wan: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess
The Conjuring (2013) - Best horror film in 7 years 

This promotional video lets you explore the Enfield house in 360 degree fashion

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 104.6 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say (but already a box office success)
[The Conjuring 2 premiered June 7 (TCL Chinese Theatre, LA) and runs 134 minutes. The real basis of the movie can be read about here. Filming took place from September - December 2015 in California and on location for 10 days in London. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe was brought in to bless the US set before filming due to a series of unexplainable events during production of the first film. The film was granted a 5.6 mil. $ tax credit from the California Film Commission for shooting in the state. It opened #1 to a 40.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, (just under the first film's 41.8 mil. $ first weekend). The Conjuring 2 is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.5 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Conjuring 2?