 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
House of Wax
- Review Date: October 23, 2005
- R
- Genre: Horror
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
Bloody slasher film is nothing like the original.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie contains repeated gross-out horror images, including skin ripping off faces; bodies subjected to stabbing, chopping, and piercing; girls screaming and weeping; shotguns blasting; deer carcasses rotting; bugs crawling; even a finger being cut off with wire cutters. The killers keep fetuses in jars, blame their mother, and target boys and girls equally, though Paris Hilton is the only victim to strip to her red bra and panties and give her boyfriend (off-screen, but plainly indicated) oral sex. The killer superglues one girl's mouth shut, and she cuts it open so it bleeds and she can summon help; characters drink, smoke, and use harsh language.
What's the story?
HOUSE OF WAX begins with a camping trip for friends Carly (Elisha Cuthbert) and Paige (Paris Hilton), their boyfriends, gentle Wade (Jared Padalecki) and lusty Blake (Robert Ri'chard), Carly's twin brother Nick (Chad Michael Murray), and Dalton (Jon Abrahams). Around the campfire, they drink, smoke cigarettes, act bored, and make out. The next morning, Carly falls into a pit of bloody, rotted fleshy muck, where a character named only "Roadkill" (Damon Herriman) tosses decayed carcasses. When Wade's Mustang mysteriously breaks down, Wade and Carly accept a ride in Roadkill's smelly pickup truck. They wind up in the small, forgotten town of Ambrose and a literal "House of Wax" (inside are wax figures, wax walls, wax furniture, wax floors), where the victims and eventual survivors are repeatedly frightened, caught in the dark, tied up, cut, and tortured.
Is it any good?
House of Wax is a remake of the Vincent price film in name and gimmick only; in all other respects it's a slasher film, in which pretty young people are horribly killed one by one. By the time they finally reach Ambrose, the film has already taken too long -- the first half's pacing is deliberate, as if the premise needs careful exposition, which it does not.
The climax is predictably bloody and brutal, as well as fiery (to underline the film's inconsistent religious iconography). Good twins Nick and Carly triumph over bad twins Bo and Vincent (both played by Van Holt, one with scarred, waxed over face, indication of his general sickness). Most alarming, the movie leaves open the possibility of a sequel.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the characters' extreme dimwittedness; and how, even for generic plotting, their willingness to explore sinister places and walk headlong into obvious trouble is remarkable. Initially at odds, Carly and her twin brother Nick learn to get along as their friends are killed off; families might discuss their display of sibling bonding, except that they are paralleled by the killer twins, once conjoined, now just thoughtlessly murderous. Families can also talk about the stereotypical representation of the villains as underclass and vaguely rural.
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- Teens & kids
AGE
Just gross
Violence: creepy guy with wax face kills people by ripping off their skin and pouring hot wax on them to turn them into wax people to put in his wax museum while they're still alive. Sexual content : Paris is shown in her underwear and bra.
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AGE
sure
it wasnt that bad. id let any teenagers see it. paris hilton is just awful. id rather no child see her strip. but the violence is not an issue for teens. and most teens have sex so i guess the sexual content is not a huge deal.
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April 9, 2008
AGE
Great movie
This movie is really good. I saw it in movie theaters with a friend and was surprised at the fact that it was not extremely violent. From the tagline (pray.slay.display.)to what the movie was about, you would think it would be very brutal and bloody, well than you'd b wrong. The movie is violent and somewhat gory, but its nothing that horror fans haven't seen before, and everyone dies in like 30 minutes. The movie has violence and some gore (including brief scenes of torture), a breif strip scene, a naked manaquine, and some language. Overall I think parents should consider what their kids can handle before watching this movie. If they have seen other R rated horror movies than this should not be a problem (this is nowhere near as bad as High Tension, that movie should have been NC-17). If your kid really wants to see it, and they have seen other R rated movies (that were R for violence) than you should let them see it, you could do much worse than letting them see this.
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AGE
to much gory violence and language scary images and no nudity/sex but other than that Not for kids!
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AGE
my favorite movie
house of wax is my favorite movie of all times. i'm not sure it would be good for kids yonger then 11. i'm 16 and still thought the movie was gross. alot of blood, carly[elisha] gets her finger cut off, doltin gets his head cut off by vincent, wade[jared padalecki] gets his a part of his face cut off, paige[paris hilton] gets a pole threw her head, blake gets a knife through his throat. but nothing to chad [murry] except he gets a knife through his leg at the end. so, its not for kids. but it's a very great slasher movie.
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AGE
house of wax is scary
This is a very scary film with violence and gore that you will scream for
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AGE
good
not for kids under the age of 16 but a very good movie
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AGE
Scary so Scary
I think Chad Micheal Murry was so hot in that heck in every thing he does.I thought he was cool in the movie. And I thought it was cool when he saved his sister I thought he was so brave.
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Kid, 12 years old
December 19, 2010
AGE
Definatly not scary, just desturbing. Yes they do kill everyone and eat thier fingers but it's not scary...too me. A scary movie i saw was Drag me to h***. i felt like i had to sleep with a knife under my pillow after that.
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| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Jaume Collet-Serra |
| Cast: | Chad Michael Murray, Elisha Cuthbert, Paris Hilton |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 105 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | May 6, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | October 25, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | horror violence, some sexual content and language |
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