Waxwork / Waxwork II - Lost in Time (1988)

The main draw of these low-budget horror pictures is their unabashed affection for the great horror movies of the past. In Waxwork, Zach Galligan and his teen friends investigate a wax museum, where they are menaced by the re-animated tableaux. It's about as energetic as a wax dummy. The sequel is livelier, with Galligan now passing through a time portal that transports him to various classic film scenarios: Frankenstein, Dawn of the Dead, Alien, and, briefly and amusingly, Nosferatu (that's Drew Barrymore as one of the virgins cowering in bed). But why no parody of Vincent Price in House of Wax? It goes on too long, but there are weird celebrity guest stars aplenty (Bruce Campbell, David Carradine, Martin Kemp). Director Anthony Hickox helmed both offerings, without quite deciding how much humor was too much humor. In short, genre cultists are pretty much the exclusive audience here. --Robert Horton Amazon.com

Double-Dose Of Bubbling Goo...

WAXWORK- Zack Galligan (Gremlins) stars as a 19yo rich kid who leads his gang of friends into the local waxwork museum. Said museum is run by the mysterious Mr. Lincoln (David Warner from The Omen and Time After Time), who has evil plans in the works. The wax figures on display are no ordinary attractions. They are actually portals into alternate universes (or something like that) where the vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, and other assorted creatures really exist! The teens are each plunged into individual scenarios of almost certain death at the hands (and claws) of these fiends! This is all part of Lincoln's plot to bring forth a monster-driven apocalypse! Gorehünts rejoice! The blood flows and splatters, while the flesh is torn, shredded, and eaten! Patrick Macknee (The Howling) costars. WAXWORK 2- Zack Galligan returns along w/ the only other survivor from film one. Together, with the help of a time-portal key, they must prove that a murder was actually commited by a crawling, disembodied hand, instead of by Galligan's partner. This leads to many further adventures in various horror worlds, including the best part in either movie, where Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Bubba Hotep) and Marina Sertis (Star Trek TNG) play paranormal investigators in a haunted house, ala THE HAUNTING. The rest of this sequel can be a bit tedious, w/ occasional bursts of humor. Alexander Godunov (Die Hard, Witness) is okay, but grows tiresome after awhile. WAXWORK 1 and 2 make for an entertaining afternoon (or midnight) fright fest. The goofy '80s hairstyles, fashions, and attitudes are offset nicely by the screwball comedy / grisley slaughter combo... July 27, 2008

More camp than classic, but fun.

This is a fun little movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. It belongs more in the "camp" than the classic horror category; but if you like campy little b-movies, this one is well worth the price.

A waxwork museum comes to town, and a mysterious man invites some teens to come to a special showing at midnight. None of the teens are in any great danger of winning an award for acting, but by b-movie standards they aren't too bad. As each teen is lured into crossing the velvet rope and entering an exhibit, they also step through into the scene that inspired the exhibit.

This conceit provides an excuse to show teenagers "living out" scenes from every horror film from Night of the Living Dead to Dracula (with the Wolfman and Mummy thrown in for good measure) . . . and to a surprisingly long "homage" to the Marquis De Sade. The finale involves a gang of "oldsters" riding to the rescue led by a wheelchair bound John Steed from the Avengers (or at least the actor who played him.) At the end of the climatic final battle the waxworks are burned to the ground and the forces of evil vanquished . . . except for one pesky little ambulatory hand.

The sequel picks-up right where the first film ends, but with a different actress in the role of the female lead. The "undead" hand from the first movie kills the stepfather of the female lead, and she is accused of his murder. Our protagonists have to find evidence to substantiate their alibi/tale of black magic.

This time we are treated to watching our two lead characters wandering through a whole new set of scenes from "classic horror" movies: everything from Frankenstein to Aliens and the Haunting (with a great cameo by Bruce Willis) to the mall scene from Dawn of the Dead. This double feature is never in any danger of being confused with great cinema, but it is a lot of fun. April 12, 2008

Not Fit

I have seen horror movies but this one was not fit to look at I know some people gave it 5 stars why ? I don't know .This movie REALLY SUCKS and the following one Waxwork 2 my goodness EEECH ! I might be picky but grandma certainly wouldn't approve of these two DUMB MOVIES . September 28, 2007

Fullscreen Basic Cable Version

This movie should be labeled : Fullscreen. Edited for Content. Bandwidth Compressed. It looks like someone taped it from a Basic Cable broadcast on SLP. Some scenes are completely missing, others just edited for content. The movie itself is interesting, just Not the Real version. Not unrated, Not R, maybe PG, though not PG-13. It is now Bland. February 27, 2007

Hidden Gem

Here is a film that has come onto the scene under the scope of the major hollywood films. A very underrated film that should be a major hit in the US. It is a humorous and horrorific movies that does justice to the genres that they are in. A must have! October 4, 2006

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