Six souls must be gotten and given to various monsters in a magical/mystical waxwork museum in order for anarchy and evil to swallow the world. Well, that is the premise of the film, but don't let it deter you from some good solid fun. The plot is at best swiss cheese-like, but the film has style and creativity to make up for its shortcomings. Most importantly the film is loaded with generous doses of humour throughout. David Warner plays the owner of the museum and, like almost all of his performances, is a joy to watch as he slightly hams his way through this film. Some of his lines are the most memorable, particularly as he talks to a jock about his wax creations, staring at a representation of The Phantom of the Opera saying, "They will make a movie out of anything," having just heard that it had been filmed multiple times. The rest of the cast is adequate. Zach Galligan gives his mediocre best in the male lead, but two stunning beauties supply something to visually feast on despite their lack of acting breadth. Michelle Johnson and Deborah Foreman do their level best to entertain. The film is an obvious homage to the horror genre with all kinds of visual allusions to former horror films. Anthony Hickox, the director, creates a fun horror film that I think his father Douglas Hickox, the director of my personal favorite horror film Theater of Blood with Vincent Price, would certainly have been proud of for its ability to mix chills with fun. The film also has a nice cameo by Patrick Macnee, the old avenger himself. Two minor flaws for me are the ending, which is somewhat too forced, and the bloodletting which may be a tad overdone at times. Notwithstanding this criticism, one of my favorite scenes in the film is the one where the man who came to Dracula's dinner table(albeit minus much of his leg)agonizes in pain as he is prodded, poked, chewed, etc.. whilst a fight is going on around him. A fun, fun film.
Review of Waxwork
