House of Wax
Rating: R
Release Date: 2005/05/06
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki, Brian Van Holt, Jon Abrahams

By Uvia Chang & Flora Wang Translated by Iva Huang

Remaking old movies seems to be the new trend in Hollywood these days. "House of Wax", being one, was remade with tons of computer graphics, special effects and the added charm of casting teen idols and celebrities as the major draw card.
The story describes how Carly (Elisha Cuthbert), Paige (Paris Hilton) and friends on their way to a college football game experiences car trouble and find themselves stranded. The teenagers accept a ride from a kind local who takes them to the nearest town, which boasts a "House of Wax" as its main attraction. Inside, the wax figures seem almost too lifelike, until the teenagers find out why:. they are actual wax-coated corpses. As they discover the town's horrifying secret, the teenagers are already being pursued by the psycho killer responsible and, in order to survive, they must engage in bloody battle with this murderer so as not to become another member of the "House of Wax".
Truth is, for many Taiwanese audiences, what would draw them to "House of Wax" is the whole scary movie factor and its special effects. In the classic horror films of the '50s, boasting only great lighting and photography skills, the make-up techniques and special effects were comparatively low-tech. In this new version, audiences can expect much more lifelike wax figurines in movement, as well as very realistic and bloody make up and special effects. Hollywood standard computer graphics will also take the audiences by surprise. In particular during the scene where characters in the movie are being sprayed with wax and turned into wax figurines, the realism should strike fear into the audiences' hearts.
It's gauge just how much pull the cast will have on American and European audiences, because the "Queen of Gossip", Paris Hilton is most definitely a major celebrity in the upper echelons of American society. Even the foreign worshipping Japanese are crazy about her. However, to the Taiwanese audience that have not even seen her famed sex tapes or her TV series "Simple Life", which is very popular in the States, the name Paris Hilton does not mean much. Perhaps co-star Elisha Cuthbert, of the U.S. TV series "24", might prove to be the bigger draw after all.