June 17 marks the 35th anniversary of the underrated, late-80s horror picture, Waxwork. This flick is filled to the brim with imagination and serves up a series of interconnected tales that feature appearances by a number of classic monsters from film and literature. Additionally, the picture delivers impressive practical creature design and plenty of goopy gore sequences.
The film follows Mark (Zach Galligan), Sarah (Deborah Foreman), China (Michelle Johnson), and Tony (Dana Ashbrook). The foursome accepts an invitation to check out a wax museum that recently materialized in the middle of a residential neighborhood. To the dismay of Sarah and Mark, Tony and China vanish during their visit. The surviving friends ultimately come to suspect that the proprietor of the waxwork is luring patrons into the exhibits to bring a series of evil historical figures back to life.
To be fair, Waxwork is a bit rough around the edges. Some of the dialogue is a bit stilted; the proceedings border on melodramatic; and some of the performances are a little wonky. But the film more than makes up for its shortcomings with an imaginative storyline that moves along at a breakneck pace.
The premise of an enchanted wax museum works to great effect here. It allows the story to incorporate a variety of different monsters into a single tale, making the proceedings play out a little like an anthology, with a series of interconnected vignettes that all revolve around the titular attraction. We see a series of references to the classic monsters of years past, including Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera, and more.
The often-anthological presentation of the film gives writer/director Anthony Hickox the chance to dabble in a variety of different genres and pay homage to the forefathers of horror. Each of the harrowing sequences that unfold within an exhibit also adds intensity to the narrative, with each trip into the world within the waxwork proving more perilous than the previous.
Even though Hickox doesn’t have a massive budget to work with here, he makes the most of it. The creature effects are still quite impressive, even after 35 years. One memorable sequence sees a character being ripped in half and another showcases an on-camera werewolf transformation that can hang with the best of them. There’s also an inventive scene that finds a character hurled into a wine rack and subsequently impaled. And that’s really just scratching the surface.
In addition to great effects work, the film also features an impressive cast of characters, led by Zach Galligan and Deborah Foreman. Both leads are serviceable in their respective roles, delivering solid performances. But the real stars of the show are the supporting characters. David Warner (In the Mouth of Madness) is a delight as the sinister proprietor of the wax museum. He seems to be enjoying his turn as a scenery-chewing villain very much. And Patrick Macnee (The Howling) is great fun as Sir Wilfred, a scholarly type that drops by to unload some exposition and then reappears during the third act for an epic showdown at the waxwork. Additionally, J. Kenneth Campbell turns in a delightfully sadistic showing as the Marquis de Sade.
Macnee, Campbell, and Warner all seem to know exactly what kind of film they are in and all of them appear to be having a great time hamming it up.
All things considered, Waxwork is an underrated export of the late 1980s that gleefully celebrates the macabre while serving up an ensemble of classic monsters. If you haven’t yet experienced the film for yourself, it is well worth checking out. Waxwork (and its 1992 sequel Waxwork II: Lost in Time) are available on Blu-ray via the Vestron Collector’s Series. Additionally, the original is free (with ads) on Roku, Tubi, Vudu, and Plex as of the publication of this post.
Categorized: Editorials
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