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House of Wax

Play trailer 2:17 Poster for House of Wax R 2005 1h 47m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 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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House of Wax

House of Wax

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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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Critics Reviews

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Jamie Russell BBC.com 05/24/2005
3/5
Makes up for its idiot plot with a gallon of gore. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Vince @IngloriousDjango Dec 23 Storyline is a fun concept. Kill scenes are excellent. See more 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 See more 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. See more 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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Jeremy W @Jerryandtom Nov 9 It's surprisingly good, totally unserious B horror.. It sticks to its theme and to its landing See more 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. See more Read all reviews
House of Wax

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Movie Info

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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