A nice throwback to the classic horrors of the '30s and '40s, this has just about every monster in it that you can think of : Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, the Werewolf, the Invisible Man, a pod person, zombies from a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-esque film, every bad creature you can think of from the '30s through till the '60s. Unfortunately, with all these monsters, there is little space for plot, and despite a few clever plot devices, the actual story has to be the weakest thing in this film.
That, and the decision to have the cast populated by bland American teenagers, well apart from Zach Galligan that is. Yes, we get another gang of bimbos and hunks who get murdered one by one without even realising what's going on. Only the two leads are any good, the rest of the cast fade quicker than a painting left in the bright sunshine. Galligan plays a surprisingly unlikeable creep who turns out to be a hero, while Foreman herself gets seduced by the dark side, even indulging in an unhealthy whipping session with the Marquis de Sade.
Still, to make up for these shortcomings, WAXWORK gives us an exploitation cast to die for. First up is David Warner, cast in the suspicious role of the waxwork hotel proprietor. Warner is pretty low key throughout the film, until the ending where he gets his own head torn off. Many other cult actors appear in bit parts, from John Rhys Davies as a werewolf to Patrick Macnee, crippled in a wheelchair and yet still a purveyor of good. The other fun actors include Miles O'Keefe as a blond, long-haired Dracula.
Aside from the many knowing references which horror fans will delight in, there are a number of horror sequences which play like mini films. These are well-paced and feature some quite graphic violence and gore; surprising that it wasn't banned really. One teenager gets attacked and bitten by a werewolf, a girl gets seduced by Dracula (and finds her boyfriend chained up in the bathroom, with rats devouring his bloody leg), a detective is attacked by an unstoppable mummy (which even gets a spear shoved through it, like in Hammer's THE MUMMY), plus some masochistic moments in the Marquis de Sade episode. Okay, so the plot is pretty weak and just strings these sequences together, and the ending, which involves a huge brawl in the museum's main hall, is pretty uninspired, but you just can't help but enjoy the bloody fun and get into the spirit of the thing. A sequel, LOST IN TIME, followed.
That, and the decision to have the cast populated by bland American teenagers, well apart from Zach Galligan that is. Yes, we get another gang of bimbos and hunks who get murdered one by one without even realising what's going on. Only the two leads are any good, the rest of the cast fade quicker than a painting left in the bright sunshine. Galligan plays a surprisingly unlikeable creep who turns out to be a hero, while Foreman herself gets seduced by the dark side, even indulging in an unhealthy whipping session with the Marquis de Sade.
Still, to make up for these shortcomings, WAXWORK gives us an exploitation cast to die for. First up is David Warner, cast in the suspicious role of the waxwork hotel proprietor. Warner is pretty low key throughout the film, until the ending where he gets his own head torn off. Many other cult actors appear in bit parts, from John Rhys Davies as a werewolf to Patrick Macnee, crippled in a wheelchair and yet still a purveyor of good. The other fun actors include Miles O'Keefe as a blond, long-haired Dracula.
Aside from the many knowing references which horror fans will delight in, there are a number of horror sequences which play like mini films. These are well-paced and feature some quite graphic violence and gore; surprising that it wasn't banned really. One teenager gets attacked and bitten by a werewolf, a girl gets seduced by Dracula (and finds her boyfriend chained up in the bathroom, with rats devouring his bloody leg), a detective is attacked by an unstoppable mummy (which even gets a spear shoved through it, like in Hammer's THE MUMMY), plus some masochistic moments in the Marquis de Sade episode. Okay, so the plot is pretty weak and just strings these sequences together, and the ending, which involves a huge brawl in the museum's main hall, is pretty uninspired, but you just can't help but enjoy the bloody fun and get into the spirit of the thing. A sequel, LOST IN TIME, followed.