Nah. Black Christmas.

You could make a case for that, but I don't think it was nearly as influential as Halloween was.

Well, you might be right in that regard, but I think the only reason Halloween is more influential is because it's more well known. In my book, Black Christmas is the film that pioneered the slasher genre. Hell, it even started the whole "He's calling from inside the house" plot contrivance. Halloween owes a lot to Black Christmas, and especially director Bob Clark. Halloween was actually supposed to be the sequel to Black Christmas in it's early script stages.

All good points makeshift, but Halloween in my opinion, is not only more influential that BC, but it is a better made film. Carpenter made one of the best films ever, not just horror, but of any genre. And I guess it bothers me that some of this generation actually forgets the roots of horror.

Saw it again this afternoon. I literally can't get enough of this film. It's been so long since we've had a slasher film that is able to find that happy medium of being able to take itself seriously, but also knowing it's a slasher film. It seems like, recently at least, it has to be one extreme; either it takes itself way too seriously and is just overbearing, or it doesn't take it self seriously enough and ends up laughing it self off the screen. HOW finds the balance between the two. We have our hardcore gore moments, beautiful direction, art direction, cinematography, and an amazing musical score mixed with the wink wink, nudge nudge aspects and the humor pieces. One thing I noticed with my second viewing is how large of a scope this film has. The whole thing is on a ridiculously large scale for a slasher film. The final reel is an absolute achievement in art direction and set design. The melting stairs, the walls collpasing in on themselves, people falling into the floors...it is all visually breathtaking. I still can't get over how great this film is, and what a true pleasent surprise it was. Great schtuff.

I want to see this again, but I've fallen behind. I've got tons to see (Unleashed, Crash, Kingdom of Heaven), and so little time.

Curse you, schoooool.

Zingy, you should play a sport. You'd have even less time on your hands! Heh.

I was pretty much always doing a sport every year in high school. I sort of regret it because I didn't have as much free time as I would've liked.

Eh, I'm not really one to play sports on a team. I just play around with friends. And, of course, go to the school football games.

If I were playing sports, I wouldn't be seeing half the movies I'm watching now.

Well, I did end up seeing it again, and... I still love it just as much.

HOUSE OF WAX - 8/10 (A-)

I loved it! Sure, the acting wasn't spectacular, but no one was really bad and it didn't bother me that much. What did matter was that it was really entertaining, well-made and scary. The director did an excellent job giving the film a very menacing look. It's just a lot of fun to watch. I'm stuck between an 8/10 (A-) and a 9/10 (A-), but at this point I'll go with the former. Anyways, it was excellent and better than THE RING TWO and THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. I want a sequel!

House of Wax (2005)

Easily one of the worst "horror" movies of the year, behind only Boogeyman and Alone if the Dark, if you consider that horror. Entirely un-scary, un-intelligent and un-entertaining. More scares are to be had walking around a house in the middle of the day, and less brain cells die while doing drugs then watching this film. When Paris Hilton is the best thing about a movie, you know you are in trouble.

4.0/10 (C-)

Scariest movie of 2005 so far. And the movie definitely didn't hold back in terms of blood and gore. There were many scenes where I jumped a few times, and I enjoy a good scare. It was highly entertaining, and pretty memorable (especially the last scenes, and when Paris dies). Overall, an excellent horror movie.

A

Friggen loved it. Opened in the Uk FRIDAY 27TH MAY.

A-

I was so surprised. Sure, i was anticipating this movie. But so far it's my favourite of the year. Elisha's performance was just great. And surprisingly Chad Michael Murray, Jared Padalecki and Paris Hilton all provided stellar performances. Was shocked to see the strong amount of character development, which sure has been non existant in teen horror since I Know What You Did Last Summer (Part 1) and the Scream trilogy. The pacing was a little bit slow, but this only added to the climax and excitement when the terror begins.

Some of the torture and suspense scenes were truly squirm worthy. I actually covered my eyes at one point, squirming. The audience i was with seemed to enjoy it alot aswell. Screams, yells and jolts aplenty. The superglue, the finger, the ankles, the hair waxing, the spear pole and oucccch, the knife through the heel of Paige's foot.

The climax freaking rocked. And it provided alot more story behind the killers than WRONG TURN, JEEPERS CREEPERS and HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. My favourite horror movie since 2003's Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. That kind of horror story just gets me. And House Of Wax just ladled on the gore, thrills and unpleasent situations. Add in some solid performances, beautiful looking teens and a haunting score. And you have the best horror movie of 2005 so far.

Very very entertaining, gory, filled with suspense and actually scarier and more "no hold barred" than you might expect.

A-

I loved it! I haven't had so much fun at the movies in such a long time. At times it can be completely stupid, and cheesy. But its very entertaining, and the whole cast is very attractive. A lot of the characters suffer from ultimate stupidity though, especially Paris Hilton. I thought Vincent was a very creepy killer, the wax mask that he wore was very scary. A lot of the chase scenes are effective, and suspenseful. I also thought the visuals were nice, and I didn't expect so much gore. It is so nice to see a true horror film, that doesn't hold anything back, and just lets it all out. I enjoyed this more than The Amityville Horror, and its my favorite horror movie of the year so far. It had me jumping in some scenes, and Paris Hilton surprisingly isn't so bad in this, although she is basically playing herself. Elisha Cuthbert is great, and Chad Michael Murray is also. All of the cast are good in their roles. I thought the death scenes were cool, and there is one in particular, that I just loved. It really felt like a slasher flick from the 80's. I really miss chase scenes like this. They were so much fun to watch, and I'm definitely buying this on dvd.

A-

I can't believe you liked HOUSE OF WAX so much ...

Why? It's a very well made horror film in my opinion. Much more entertaining than The Amityville Horror remake.

I just ... well I don't know :wink: It was good but it wasn't great.

Oh, and just for the record, I thought this was WAY scarier than High Tension.

I don't think either of them were actually scary. HOUSE OF WAX was a little intense but not that much. HIGH TENSION, on first viewing, was really intense, like I wanted to pause it and just take a breather.

Thanks for taking my recomendation to see this. I knew you would like it and I am happy you did. I thought this horror movie rocked. (Best in a while) I was very pleased with this movie.

Scary? No. Stupid? A Bit. Exciting/Fun? Yes.

OK! yes it was a fun slasher movie, i enjoyde it a lot actually! the death scenes were awesome!

My only complaint was the 3rd son....Ugh i hate that!!!
i hope they dont make a sequel [-o<

Paris did a nice job!

B

I'm really surprised by this one. Very interesting story. Awesome second half. A-

B


It was a good and definitely above-average slasher flick (we don't see many good of those nowadays anymore, eh?), but it is still not Scream and neither it is a horror masterpiece. I must applaud the director, however, for not cutting away when it comes to brutal gore and mand, there is plenty of it to be seen in the movie. The acting is average, but Paris Hilton is surprisngly not bad. Some obligatory drama (possible pregnancy?) was unneeded, but didn't bother me much. The very ending (with the third brother) was stupid.

Overall, it was an entertaining and at times gritty movie, but it seriously lacked in the suspense department, I thought. The Amityville Horror and Dark Water are certainly the better horror films this year.

With the exception of a couple of things, this is one of the best horror films of the year, and I can easily say I'm not that big a fan of the genre. With the exception of the Halloween series, the "Dead" films, and the first Scream, I can take it or leave it (It should be noted that I haven't seen a Freddy or Jason film, besides Freddy vs. Jason. I have more interest in the first series because that seems like the more intriguing one, but I'll eventually see both). To my utter shock I absolutely enjoyed the film. Here are some problems I kinda had.

First off the characters. Now I know in order for a horror film to go anywhere in terms of a plot, chances are you have to have some pretty dumb characters to advance the plot. That's the only reason why I think some of the characters made any choices in this film. I would say pretty much everyone's character was inept except for Paris Hilton (Well what do you know).

The first was Murray's character. Who throws a bottle at someone's headlight out in the middle of a field. Haven't they seen a horror film before?

The second was Cuthbert and her boyfriend accepting a ride from the person who just happened to handle deer carcass.

Third, the same duo accepts the mechanic's offer to go inside of his house in what seems to be an abandoned town, to get the fanbelt. Even though her boyfriend says the 16'' will do, they still go anyway.

Lastly fourth, Cuthbert's boyfriend. If someone just told you the life story of a family who went insane, describing that the dad was a doctor who performed freaky operations, would you then later on explore the room inside of this stranger's house, which just happens to look like a doctor's office?

That saying though, these choices occur in the first half of the film. The second half is where everything picks up. The best thing about the film was that it was great to look at, no doubt about it. The finale with the house burning down, and seeing all of the wax melting was great to look at (Both the CGI and practical effects were visually exciting to look at except at the very end with Cuthbert and Murray standing outside. It looked like that was poorly done). I also liked the structure of the house and how it seemed to weave. That saying, the entire town's set design was great to look at, especially the scene inside of the movie theater (Best scene of the film).

I also thought the acting, with the lines they had to work with, was well done as well.

The thing that bugged me most I guess was with the very last shot of the film, where we learn what the "twist" is. The ride Cuthbert and her boyfriend got, just happened to be from the third brother. Okay and that means what, he's a pyschotic serial killer too? Will he take revenge on them for killing his brothers? I don't think so, unless the cops who are no more than 100 yards away are just as inept as the characters were in the first half of the film. This twis is overall very pointless.

The good things I mentioned about the film, outweigh the bad things by a large margain, and the film has a couple of good scares in it. Thefore..........

B+

A horror film that is in enjoyable, fun and fucking intense. Paris Hilton actually did pretty well. Decent acting all around, actually. As long as its effective (which SAW wasn't), it will work.

A-. Pitty, it didn't make more at the b.o.