Waxwork (1988)

In the video store days, I would roam the isles of the multiple stores my mother ran. As an impressionable kid I would be immediately drawn to the vilest, nasty, and violent covers I saw. In the process of this ritualistic exchange, I somehow missed this gem of an 80’s horror flick.

Waxwork was released to the home video marked in 1988 by Vestron Pictures (Now Lionsgate) with two versions of the film. One version carried the R rating and the other was Unrated. I can’t tell you why I passed up this movie for so long, but I unfortunately did. I just recently sat down and watched in on Fear Net through Comcast.

Basically the film is about a group of yuppie college kids that are almost as annoying as nails on a chalk board. The group is invited to a private walk-through of the new wax museum in town called Waxworks. Soon their friends start disappearing and one of them suspects the creepy museum has something to do with it.

I was really surprised with this movie. I thought the story was well written and even though the yuppie kids in the movie were hard to handle, they acted their parts very well. Waxwork starts Zach Galligan (Grimlins, Grimlins 2), Deborah Foreman (April Fools Day, Valley Girl), Michele Johnson (Death Becomes Her, Dr. Giggles) Dana Ashbrook (Return of The Living Dead: Part II, Ghost Dad) and the great David Warner ( The Omen, Tron, Titanic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze).

Not only was the acting good and comical, but the stories concept was very cool as well. Its unique, and off the wall but when you think about it in concept it would be really cool to actually be thrown into the scene the wax sculptures are depicting. I do think some of the creatures/monster/killers were misused though. It would have been really cool to see more of the scenes instead of just 5 of them.

Gore in the film was surprisingly good. There is not a lot but when it is used it’s over the top and ridiculously fun. You get a biting, some gets ripped apart, some blood feasting, a blood bath. and some gun shots and other stuff. There is no nudity in the film either which I though was weird considering the time period of the film but it didn’t suffer without it.

All in all Waxwork is a fantastic little horror/comedy and is defiantly going to be added to my collection very soon. GLP gives this 80’s gem a solid 4 out of 5 stabs for creative story, humor, and cool ass special effects. You can currently get the film in a 2 pack DVD with its sequel Waxwork II: Lost in Time. View the trailer below.

GLP Rating: