House of Wax

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2:17

House of Wax

R

2005

1h 47m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

27%

Tomatometer

161 Reviews

44%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

A gang of college friends, including Wade (Jared Padalecki) and his girlfriend, Carly (Elisha Cuthbert), are en route to a school football game when they wind up with a flat tire in a ghost town. They are forced to seek help in the only place that's open: the local wax museum. Once inside the spooky and seemingly abandoned building, they find the works on display are not quite what they seem -- and the group soon discovers it's being hunted by the insane twin brothers who run the museum.

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Critics Consensus

Bearing little resemblance to the 1953 original, House of Wax is a formulaic but better-than-average teen slasher flick.

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Jamie Russell

BBC.com

05/24/2005

3/5

Makes up for its idiot plot with a gallon of gore.

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Stephanie Zacharek

Salon.com

05/14/2005

Filled with the usual contemporary horror staples, most notably lots of rusty torture implements and cellphones that tend to scurry mischievously out of reach just as the villain bears down on his prey.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

05/14/2005

2/4

Her demise is spectacularly gruesome, gory and bloody and the filmmakers even throw in an entirely too obvious gag about the hotel heiress' penchant for letting herself get recorded on video tape.

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David Day

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 23

6/10

Unfortunately, House of Wax has a seemingly unlimited supply of rope to hang itself with. There is a tremendous amount of extraneous details that force us to wade through this 113 minute slog with no real rhyme or reason behind their inclusion.

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Brian Bisesi

Horror Movie Club Podcast

02/07/2024

3/5

Despite its annoyingly angsty teen dialogue and incomplete thematic elements, House of Wax successfully expands the legacy of The Wax Works story with interesting ideas and entertainingly grotesque moments.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

09/22/2023

3/5

Better than it has any right to be, its brutality and absurdity help elevate what could have been a rote rehash.

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Vince

@IngloriousDjango Dec 23

Storyline is a fun concept. Kill scenes are excellent.

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Bar n

Dec 5

this movie is horrible when i first watched it on netflix its like having a fever dream im so glad its removed on netflix theres no horror here whatsover

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Jack F

@MovieFan111 Nov 27

Despite watching this only once, this is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. It's just so good. Devilish concept, and a cool cast as well. DEFINITELY watching it again.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Nov 23

Success in 01 hour, 52 minutes, and 43 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Language, Horror Violence and Some Sexual Content!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $32,000,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Jeremy W

@Jerryandtom Nov 9

It's surprisingly good, totally unserious B horror.. It sticks to its theme and to its landing

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Jace T

@CineChamber Nov 9

So I watched this film when it had first came out all the way back in 2005 when I was fresh into high school and I remember really not enjoying this film. This year in 2025, I rewatched it with some friends, and was actually blown away with how much better this film holds up than I remember it being back then. The story and villain is actually really enjoyable, and the kills are creative. Kind of a blast from the past with Paris Hilton in it as well. You should absolutely rewatch this one if it has been a long time.

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Jaume Collet-Serra

Director

Elisha Cuthbert

Carly Jones

Chad Michael Murray

Nick Jones

Brian Van Holt

Bo

Paris Hilton

Paige Edwards

Jared Padalecki

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House of Wax: Trailer 1

2:17

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Synopsis

A gang of college friends, including Wade (Jared Padalecki) and his girlfriend, Carly (Elisha Cuthbert), are en route to a school football game when they wind up with a flat tire in a ghost town. They are forced to seek help in the only place that's open: the local wax museum. Once inside the spooky and seemingly abandoned building, they find the works on display are not quite what they seem -- and the group soon discovers it's being hunted by the insane twin brothers who run the museum.

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Producer: Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, Susan Downey
Screenwriter: Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Dark Castle Entertainment
Rating: R (Language|Horror Violence|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 6, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.0M
Runtime: 1h 47m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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