Elisha Cuthbert. Hot wax. What a lethal combination.

"House of Wax," a movie that shows absolutely no similarity to the 1953 Vincent Price original except for the fact that one of the killers is named Vincent and that the film is about a killer who creates wax figurines out of his victims' bodies, is your pretty standard horror fare. It has a lot of stupid young people who make stupid mistakes, but at least the young people are hot and they die in gruesome ways. One of the few movies to be bold and shoot for an R-rating, "House of Wax" definitely deserves it; there are plenty of "good" killings, including a beheading, a skin-peeling, an Achilles heal cutting and, best of all, Paris Hilton gets a shaft to the face - no, not there... through the forehead!

Don't expect anything too original here, but don't expect a completely generic film, either. After all, there are so many movies of the last few years that have been about cheesy monsters and ghosts; it's nice to see a gory, R-rated slasher flick with a couple of psycho killers. The only real downside is that the film lacks one thing that an R-rated slasher flick should have - nudity. No, there is no nudity and not even any sex in this film, which is quite a disgrace. At the same time, I couldn't really expect Ms. Cuthbert to show much at all.

"House of Wax" is a fun little film. It starts off a bit slowly and there really aren't any deaths until about fifty minutes into it, but the setup is decent enough that you can get over it. I would have liked to have seen a little more development from the killers; aside from killing lots of people they never really get to show just how crazy they really are, or why they are the way they are. "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" did a good job of establishing a creepy, fucked up family, and "House of Wax" really does nothing of the sort.

Still, the death scenes and a mild sense of suspense make the film worth a rental. The ending is perhaps a bit hoaky (guess what happens to a wax house when it catches on fire), but other than that this is a fresh little thrill ride.

And again, let's say it - Elisha Cuthbert and hot wax.

Review by Erik Samdahl.