House of Wax

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2:17

House of Wax

R

2005

1h 47m

Horror

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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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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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Jamie Russell

BBC.com

May 24, 2005

3/5

Makes up for its idiot plot with a gallon of gore.

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Stephanie Zacharek

Salon.com

May 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.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

May 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.

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David Day

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 23, 2025

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.

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Brian Bisesi

Horror Movie Club Podcast

Feb 7, 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.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 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.

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Alec H

@alechbt 6 days ago

House of Wax has way more personality than I expected. The town, the wax aesthetic, the score, and the art direction build a really fun fantasy-horror atmosphere without ever making the movie feel ridiculous. The characters also behave surprisingly naturally for a teen slasher, which makes the chase scenes much more tense. I especially loved the parallel between the two pairs of siblings and the final image of Vincent falling onto Bo’s body. Stylish, fun, and much smarter than I expected. Easy 5 stars.

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Georgia P

@RT70958088 Sep 27, 2026

Great mix of creepy and comedic. The house of wax is actually terrifying

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This M

@Moviedestroyer Sep 17, 2026

I believe that this movie was to fast paced they could have slowed down a tad bit but still lover this movie to this day the plot had me had me baffled

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Alex B

@AlexBioni Sep 14, 2026

Wax Museum Nightmare This movie has such a crazy and unrealistic premise, but I don't care. It's awesome. I try to watch it at least once a year around Halloween. The set design of the wax museum and all its inhabitants is wild. Everything looks like it was actually made of wax. The stairs leading to the basement covered in wax faces are an awesome visual. When you learn the truth about the museum and what's really going on, it's crazy to think about if something like this could actually be possible. The scene with Wade on the piano is insane. The atmosphere gives me that early 2000s horror fix, and there are some great kills with lots of blood and practical looking effects. I really like Chad Michael Murray's performance, along with most of the cast. The only one I didn't like was Paris Hilton. She kind of sucked acting wise. It does rely on stereotypical horror cliches and ideas we've seen before, but the premise is so cool that it always pulls me back for another watch.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 4, 2026

Can't recommend this movie!

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James W

@RT62675415 Jul 17, 2026

It deserves to be rated at least 75%. It’s a great film!

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Jaume Collet-Serra

Director

Elisha Cuthbert

Carly Jones

Chad Michael Murray

Nick Jones

Brian Van Holt

Bo

Paris Hilton

Paige Edwards

Jared Padalecki

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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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