95) Waxwork (1988) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

"They'll make a movie about anything nowadays."

Director

Anthony Hickox

Cast

Zach Galligan - Mark

Deborah Foreman - Sarah

Michelle Johnson - China

Dana Ashbrook - Tony

Clare Carey - Gemma

David Warner - David Lincoln

Patrick Macnee - Sir Wilfred

Mihaly Meszaros - Hans

John Rhys-Davis - Wolfman

The prime reason the 1988 film Waxwork stands out in my head above other horror movies on the decade is because it stars Zach Galligan. It's the only other movie I associate with him outside of his character, Billy Peltzer, in Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins II: The New Batch (1990). 

Incidentally, I've seen him in the Tales from the Crypt episode "Strung Along" as well as his cameo in Warlock: The Armageddon. 

That's no surprise because Waxwork director, Anthony Hickox, also directed Warlock: The Armageddon. He also directed Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1993). 

Galligan is also in the slasher sequel Hatchet III (2013). I'm certainly not trying to water down Galligan as an actor. Listening to him in interviews, he seems very passionate about being an actor. Galligan certainly stands by the work he's done, and he's fun to watch on screen. Also, I hope to see him return as Billy Peltzer in a third Gremlins movie. He briefly return as Billy, much to the joy of fans like myself, in a Mountain Dew commercial that aired earlier this year. Maybe that's a precursor of things to come. Galligan certainly Tweets often about "Gremlins 3."

With Waxwork, Galligan isn't the only actor in the movie to have appeared in other classic (more or less) horror films. It's loaded with several names that are worth dropping. 

Deborah Foreman who appears in the 1986 slasher film April Fool's Day - a movie I plan on reviewing - is in this. She's also in 1989's Lobster Man from Mars also directed by Hickox.

Waxwork also stars Michelle Johnson who also appears in the English speaking Mexican horror flick Beaks: The Movie (1987), as well as Dr. Giggles (1992), and Death Becomes Her (1992). 

Most notably, the film stars English actors David Warner and Patrick Macnee. 

Macnee is well-known  for playing John Steed in the 1960s espionage series The Avengers. He can also be seen in the other 80s horror flick The Howling which I'll review shortly. I have a copy of it sitting on my desk as I write this. 

And I can't fail to mention that in Waxwork, actor John Rhys-Davis plays a character who transforms to a werewolf. Who doesn't want to see that?

Waxwork certainly isn't the first, nor the last horror movie that takes place in a wax museum. There's quite a list of such films. Vincent Price's 1953 classic House of Wax comes to mind right away along with its loose 2005 remake of the same name starring Paris Hilton. Terror in the Wax Museum (1973) and The House That Dripped Blood (1971) are a few others as well. Wax museums are a perfect setting for terror because they're simply terrifying places. The realism behind the blank motionless stares of wax figures can be unsettling.  

So, the story begins with a disturbing scene of a guy getting his head shoved into a fireplace. This sets the macabre tone.

We then cut away to a suburb where rich boy Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan) is eager to get away from his babying mother who won't even let him have a cup of coffee lest the caffeine hinder him somehow. 

Loftmore meets up with his college buddies. Two of them, Sarah (Deborah Foreman) and China (Michelle Johnson) tell Mark and the others about a strange encounter they had with the reticent proprietor of a wax museum, David Lincoln (David Warner), which is oddly located in the middle of a residential neighborhood. 

Lincoln invited the girls and their friends on a special viewing at midnight. 

Zach Galligan in Waxwork.

The crew decide to go see this place, and find themselves to be the only visitors at the waxwork's midnight tour. 

Inside, the displays are all grim depictions of horror scenes with standard horror characters - werewolves, vampires, executioners, etc.

As the friends separate and meander through the museum, one of the college kids, Tony (Dana Ashbrook - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!, Return of the Living Dead II) crosses the barrier of a display and finds himself suddenly in the middle of a dark forest. 

Rather than collapse with fear at being in a different location all of a sudden, he thinks his friends are pulling a joke on him, or spiked his drink. It's a horror cliché at its worst. 

Tony finds a secluded cabin, and walks on in still thinking it's all one big joke. There's a man inside clearly in distress, yelling at Tony to get out. Of course, Tony sticks around.

This stranger, played by John Rhys-Davis, turns into a werewolf right before Tony's eyes and attacks him. 

In no time, Tony also starts turning into a werewolf just as two hunters with rifles and silver bullets barge in. 

Soon after, the others begin crossing the barriers of various wax displays and find themselves in the horrific scenes. To them, those scenes are now reality.

Loftmore quickly realizes what's going on as he escapes one of the displays.  

When he goes to the police, who of course don't believe him (useless cops...another standard horror cliché) he turns to a family friend, Sir Wilfred (Patrick Macnee) who explains the true nature and intent of the wax museum, the proprietor, and why so many of people around town have gone missing. 

Fans of gore will surely get something out of this movie. It's like a Halloween walk-through attraction on film. 

Waxwork is a product of its day in style and special effects. That's not necessarily a criticism. What is a criticism, however, is the film's use of banal elements that were tiresome, even in the 1980s - bully cops who serve little to no purpose, insanely clueless teenagers, laughably bad decisions, and ancient evils wanting to take over the earth. 

This is supposed to be a comedy horror, but the comedy is just lame.  

Aside from that, the scene transitions are too quick. And the fighting scene in the film's climax is cringe and embarrassing to watch. Maybe that's where the comedy was hiding this whole time?

There is a small reference to my favorite musical horror Little Shop of Horrors. That part was fun.

This movie feels loose at the seems. There's little to nothing for the audience to become invested in as the plot is rushed through and the characters are pretty much throw-away characters. I just sat and waited for token character after token character to get picked off, one by one.

Michelle Johnson as "China."

It seems all effort went into the movie sets, make-up effects, and the salary for those high-end actors. 

A sequel was released in 1992 - Waxwork II: Lost in Time with Hickox back in the director's chair. Galligan returns in part two and is joined by the legendary Bruce Campbell as well as David Carradine and Patrick Macnee once again. I'm willing to give it a try.

I think all Waxwork has going for it is the nostalgia behind it, the ride from one horror scene to another, and watching John Rhys-Davis's performance of a man turning into a werewolf. Everything else is flat and unimaginative.