not horrible nor great

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I have to say I rather enjoyed this film; however, that being said I actually enjoyed the sequel to this one more. It may be because I actually saw the sequel first or more likely that film featured Bruce Campbell and he was absolutely hilarious in it! Still, this one was good too, just not quite as good. I felt some of the scenes felt a bit too rushed, while others went on a bit too long. It is by no means an anthology film, but it does feature different sectors as it were. Took me forever to finally sit down and watch the whole thing, like a number of other films, it was one of those that I caught a piece here and there, but never sat down and watched the entire film and as I said, it was pretty good. There were numerous stars in it and it has David Warner who kind of reminds me of a John Carradine type actor in that he is a good actor and he appeared in good movies, but once in a while he would appear in a totally horrific film. This is not the case for this one, as this film has some good points, but it still is not a big Hollywood release either. He makes a fine villain for this one. Zak Galligan of Gremlins fame is the lead, and he is okay in it, but he kind of played almost two characters in this one. Not sure why he never appeared in more stuff, he was usually pretty decent in most of the films I saw him in and he was better in the sequel to this one. John Rhys Davis is also in this film, but not for a very prolonged period.The story has a waxwork open in a very peculiar place in the middle of a neighborhood. As two girls pass it, the owner appears and invites them to a special late night viewing, but he wishes for there to be no more than six people. Well, they go, but this place has a deadly secret as two of the group ends up inside the displays as one seems transported to another world! One of them ends up in a forested area where a deadly werewolf lurks while the female ends up in a vampire's castle. Zak Galligan's character goes to the police when his friends end up not showing up and the police officer does not believe him at first, but there is something about the waxwork that bugs him so he returns only to find himself walking into a display and ending up in a mummy's tomb! The waxwork has a deadly secret and it must be uncovered or it may mean doom for the earth! So pretty good and it had some rather good gore effects. I enjoyed the vampire setting the best as it was rather good and bloody. I also liked the fact that the police officer in this one actually did not dismiss the possibility that something was wrong with the waxwork. It did a lot of things good, but I still feel the sequel was a bit more superior as it added a few more crazy touches, though this one did a nice job of displaying a lot of classic monsters. I was not to wild about the whole whipping area as there was nothing really that horrific in that area. You had monsters in most and it was kind of a shame we didn't get to see more as there was one featuring pods and another featuring a killer looking baby that may have been a bit more interesting to see play out. Still, overall, it was a nice visit to the waxwork.

I usually prefer cheese in my food&not in my movies,but this movie is well done&quite entertaining. I'm not going to go on&on about actors&directors&such because I don't care about all that. The movie is what I'm interested in&it is quite interesting. Waxworks are not a new concept for movies no,but this movie is the best one about waxworks,that I've seen. It just seems to have the right mix&the cheese while certainly present,is not done to that annoyingly childish 'over the top' level like newer movies do too often. Plus,there are some nice tributes to some classic characters,real&fictional. Everything from a Jack The Ripper-like character,to a suave 'Dracula'&his pretty,hungry brides. And of course,Mr. S&M himself,the Marquis De Sade,who ironically gets the virgin of the group visiting the waxwork museum,into chains&she finds she likes it,quite a bit.(; Some nitpickers may loathe the few plot gaps there are,but since the movie is so well done,you hardly notice them,IMO. You step into the display&you will assuredly pay...with your life. BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Admittedly I barely got through the latter half of this, before temptation dared me to sit it out to the end. Darned it. Definitely not Galligan's, Johnson's, Foreman's or even Warner's better work. But I blame that on the bad scripting, the horrible directing, the rather lazy production technique. And Lord knows, I have long respected and admired David Warner's work. Gifted villain is he, especially opposite his classic Jack the Ripper icon, opposite Malcolm McDowell in 'Time after time'. And certainly, one of the finer, solid English talents of our century. Thankfully his talent wasn't entirely wasted in this. He was allotted some grandeur evil moments; similar to the setup of Vincent Price's classic 'House of Wax'. Most inevitably, a few of the latter scenes curiously depicted those classic scenes,like the vat room and the staircase.This film certainly started out decently, but some of the pacing was a tad slow. By the time the kids actually step inside the 'wax museum', and then walk around the exhibits, much just turns goofy or mindless from thereon. Eventually action becomes rather boorish. The special effects are mediocre if that, most of the period actors can barely act a wink, and the editing is just awful. Several of the slasher-gore action shots get goofy or make zero sense (or out of sequence), and the ending 'battle' scene between the 'monsters' and the good guys is laughable. Perhaps this was intended to be a teen suspense comedy-drama. And it almost held the same quality humor as the Evil-dead series. However, with the awkward pacing, much of the intended visual effects fell either flat or victim to bad editing.

Waxwork is written and directed by Anthony Hickox. It stars Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson, David Warner, Dana Ashbrook, Miles O'Keefe, Patrick Macnee and John Rhys-Davies. Music is by Roger Bellon and cinematography by Gerry Lively.A sort of portmanteau horror film made on a TV standard budget. Plot in simple terms has a bunch of pretty young adults unwisely accept an invite to visit the mysterious new wax museum that has suddenly appeared in town: At midnight! What follows is a number of stories that find members of the group magically transported into the realm of an exhibit, such as werewolf, vampire etc, and end up as part of the exhibit themselves. Can the hero in waiting save the day?It's a fun homage of a movie, playing very much firmly with tongue in cheek. The presence of some horror stalwarts in the cast is reassuring, and the effects work isn't half bad. Some of the acting is poor from the younger cast members, and while it's not hard to forgive a low budgeted movie its failings, it's still annoying that the actors playing the wax models can't keep still, while the set nearly falls down at one point. The photography is also too cloudy at times, Gerry Lively's filters straining for colour ambiance.Still, it's a decent time filler that's made with love by a horror fan for horror fans. 5/10