House of Wax

Play trailer

2:17

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.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

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

Read all reviews

Josie N

@RT45492148 3d

Classic horror with a great soundtrack.

See more

lo

Jun 9

i thought this movie was great, i watched it a long time ago when i was younger and thought it was really scary. and now when i watch it it still gives me that feeling. the eerie ness of the movie and the thought of being alone in a town is so scary. the soundtrack is really good too. this movie is solid and the style of it is really nice. would recommend

See more

Raziel T

@RT12506642 Jun 3

It's the most 2005 movie ever. Paris Hilton's character exists to take her pants off, and all characters beside the two final survivors are there for just some more kills to count. Ultimately, it's not a bad watch, the cinematography is pretty great and the effects still hold up despite their age - and the atmosphere was actually fairly solid too. It was just...a bit lacking in character and some scenes were questionable.

See more

Justin T

@RT08580778 May 11

The characters make so many dumb decisions it's like it’s a joke. It’s not a bad film, it’s a generic slasher that is well made. I didn’t really like the music though. The finale was actually awesome although the sound effects made it comical. Probably falls into that guilty pleasure category but only really worth watching for the final act.

See more

Abigail S.

@undeadkilljoy Apr 3

I originally watch this movie because my favorite band plays the song in it, but as I watched it it was kind of good I would say but at the same time when I go out of my way to watch it again, no

See more

Steven F.

@SteveGotScored Feb 21

Such a wild slasher movie!

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Jaume Collet-Serra

Director

Elisha Cuthbert

Carly Jones

Chad Michael Murray

Nick Jones

Brian Van Holt

Bo

Paris Hilton

Paige Edwards

Jared Padalecki

Wade

House on Haunted Hill

31%

42%

House on Haunted Hill

Watchlist

Hatchet

56%

45%

Hatchet

Watchlist

The Amityville Horror

23%

52%

The Amityville Horror

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Amityville Horror

Dawn of the Dead

77%

77%

Dawn of the Dead

Watchlist

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

37%

58%

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

House of Wax: Trailer 1

2:17

View more videos

View more photos

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)