Horror under the code name "tourist trap" has long stood out in a special category, the canons of which have been unchanged for many years: a group of naive young people have to climb into the wilderness where there is no mobile communication and is destined to die at the hands of maniacs, cannibals, local gopniks or mutants.
Among such examples of the genre there are masterpieces penetrated by psychologism, there are also annoying failures. At the same time, the fairly stamped formula does not lose its popularity among filmmakers and the relevance of the audience. One of the prominent representatives of the subgenre is the project of the director Jaume Colet-Serre "House of Wax". Films similar to the claimed tape appear regularly in the world box office.
Remake remake
Having gained experience in adapting Japanese horror films, Hollywood filmmakers drew attention to their own old paintings. The film "House of Wax" (2005) is a remake of the remake, no matter how messy it may sound. And all because the brainchild of Andre De Taut, who created the “Wax Museum” in 1953, which inspired Colette Serra, is a remake of the film “The Secret of the Wax Museum”, released in 1933.
For the sake of fashion for slashers, in which maniacs shred young people, the Spanish director Jaume Colet-Serra decided to revive the forgotten story in a new interpretation. He combined wax theme with typical slasher components. At the center of the narrative, a company of young people, heading for a football match, stumbles and gets into trouble. The most impressive in the film, according to the opinions of the audience, is the entourage - an abandoned provincial town with empty dwellings and a small church filled with wax figures. The genre of the film "House of Wax" - horror, its IMDb rating: 5.30.
The project has polar reviews and ratings among viewers and movie experts. The tape was awarded the Teen Choice Awards (2005) as the "Best Horror Movie" and at the same time received the Golden Raspberry. This diverse reception did not stop filmmakers continuing to produce similar projects.
Full meta-horror
A list of films similar to House of Wax opens the horror film director Drew Goddard's Cabin in the Woods (2011). The story begins with a meeting with a company of students who went to the wilderness for the weekend. In a forest hut lost in a thicket, they find a diary whose pages are covered in ominous scribbles in Latin. Naturally, the characters begin to read it - and the horrors begin.
Many reviewers in the reviews focused on the similarity of the plot of the Drew Goddard project with the cult "Evil Dead". However, the plot of the tape is not exclusively a slasher, it is also a detective story in which the secret is revealed gradually and rather slowly. The film received positive reviews from film critics and an IMDb rating of 7.00. The audience was delighted with the originality and unpredictability of the story.
From category must see
Typically, the scene in films similar to "House of Wax", are uninhabited open spaces, abandoned cities or impenetrable thicket of forest. For example, in Rob Schmidt’s film “Turning the Wrong Way”, young Americans wander through the thickets of West Virginia. Soon they become the object of hunting for local residents: crazy and wild mutant brothers.
As many movie experts noted, Schmidt did not try to be original, but the atrocities of his antagonists became the material on which the long-running franchise, including five episodes, developed. Their authors donated a bus with criminals and participants in the reality show and visitors to the costumed open air.
The original film “Turning the Wrong Way” has an IMDb rating of 6.10, sequels have several times less. It is not surprising that all parts of the sequel were released immediately on DVD. But the first tape still looks worthy, remaining a must see product for fans of the genre.
Originals and remakes
Many Hollywood authors do not hide the fact that when creating tapes inspired by cases from real life. For example, Toob Hooper composed his painting “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), being impressed by the trial of the necrophile Ed Gain, who was fond of sewing the clothes from the skin of his victims. Therefore, his provincial villain puts on masks instead of masks cut off from his victims, and if strangers encroach on his territory, he arms himself with a chainsaw and calls his relatives for help.
The 1974 project, banned in many countries, refers to films similar to The House of Wax, and Leather Face is one of the preeminent movie lovers in the history of the film industry. Not surprisingly, several optional sequels came out after the rental. But the dilogy-reboot turned out to be powerful. And it seems Hollywood is clearly not going to stop there. Tube Hooper’s tape has an IMDb rating of 7.50 and extremely positive reviews, “Texas Chainsaw 3D Massacre” and the 2017 film with the subtitle “Leather Face” - both the rating is lower and the reviews are more modest.
From the same series
A similar story, with numerous sequels and remakes, is associated with the 1977 film “The Hills Have Eyes,” directed and scripted by Wes Craven. At the center of the story is the Carter family, traveling around America and facing mutant cannibals. Despite the fact that the project was awarded the prize of the jury of critics of the festival in Sitges, its IMDb rating: 6.40.
In 2006, French filmmaker Alexander Aza made a remake of the film, provoking a hurricane of criticism and awarded the same rating position at 6.40. The fact that Wes Craven strengthened and cemented the trend laid down by the Texas Massacre is beyond doubt.
There is still a continuation from the director Martin Wise, defeated by critics. In this case, the appearance of sequels or reboots is quite possible, as long as the viewer pays for the view, the eyes at the hills will not change.
Other movies similar to Wax House
In this category, it will be worthwhile to mention no less interesting examples of the genre like “Hostel” (2005), where a hostel in one of the countries of Eastern Europe acts as a death trap. This modest budget tape received a huge box office and earned a significant share of critics' compliments. Two subsequent sequels could not bring the original to success even a bit.
The film “Shaitan” (2006), created not without taste by debutant Kim Shapiron, tells what childishness, youth walks in the French suburbs and a meeting with an ominous gardener can lead to. The picture was created with the support of Vincent Cassel, who produced the tape and played one of the main roles.
Also, fans of the genre can safely recommend the films “Wolf Pit”, “Turistas”, “Border” and “Forbidden Zone” for viewing.