For good horror these days, your best bet is still Asian. The two
Japanese horror movies playing in cinemas right now — Infection
and Shikoku — may be schlocky, but they are still
better than what Hollywood is churning out.

House of Wax is a case in point. Hollywood is so creatively
bankrupt when it comes to horror that it has to remake its old classics
(like The Amityville Horror, Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
Dawn of the Dead and now House of Wax) or borrow
from Asia (The Ring, Ju-On and Dark Water).

House of Wax, however, will appeal to some teenagers and
the teenager-at-heart — what with its rude American humour,
Paris Hilton striptease scene and nice shots of Chad Michael Murray
(of One Tree Hill fame) shirtless.

The movie is about a group of totally obnoxious teenagers who are
driving to big football game. When their trip takes an unexpected
detour to a deserted town with a creepy House of Wax run by a pair
of psychotic twins, all hell breaks loose...

The movie is full of cheap scares and cheap flesh. But lovers of
gore will relish the very gruesome scenes where a still-living character
watches in horror as he is being embalmed in hot wax.

It also has very graphic killing scenes, so we recommend this film
to the gorehounds, scream queens and those of you wear the "cheap
and shallow" badge with pride.