Waxwork (1988) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 28

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All your favorite monsters are camping it up for a scary good time.

Waxwork offers a little something for everyone in a horror film that is not too horrific. It has some memorable scenes, in between gory killings and campy characters, creating a unique and fun 80s film.

Before Viewing

The creepy narrator in this trailer draw you in as they show a group of young people coming for a late evening tour of the Waxworks. Several of the group are impressed by the exhibits, and an older man asks if they’d like a closer look. As they step over the rope they pass through a portal in to the world of the exhibit where the monsters come alive. There’s werewolves, vampires, and mummies plus many other creepy characters come to life at the Waxwork.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

In a gothic mansion during a rainstorm, a man is violently killed by being pushed into a lit fireplace, while others smash cases and steal objects. Sometime later, in the same house, Mark (Zach Galligan) has breakfast with his mother (Jennifer Bassey), who reads a newspaper article about two more people disappearing. Sarah (Deborah Foreman) and China (Michelle Johnson) are on their way to their college classes when they notice a new Waxwork museum in the neighborhood. The owner, David Lincoln (David Warner) invites them for a special tour at midnight for up to six of them. At school, they invite Mark (China’s ex-boyfriend), Tony (Dana Ashbrook), and boyfriend and girlfriend James (Eric Brown) and Gemma (Clare Carey).

Near midnight, outside the mansion, James and Gemma get freaked out and leave. A midget, Hans (Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros), answers the door, along with an exceedingly tall butler, Junior (Jack David Walker). The youth look around at the hyper-realistic exhibits, when Tony accidentally drops his lighter into an exhibit of a werewolf. When he steps over the red rope to retrieve it, he is is transported into a world where the werewolf (John Rhys-Davies) is real. The creature bites Tony, who begins to transform and then is shot by a villager with a silver bullet. China steps into an exhibit with Dracula (Miles O’Keeffe). In the castle she is attacked by Stephen (Christopher Bradley), the Count’s son, and three female vampires, before being bitten by the head vampire. Both she and Tony become a new victim in each of the exhibits.

Sarah becomes intrigued by the Marquis de Sade (J. Kenneth Campbell) exhibit, but Mark breaks the spell when he tells her he can’t find the others. Mark and Sarah walk home, enjoying each other’s company, while Jonathan (Micah Grant), China’s current love interest, stops by the Waxwork looking for her. He is pushed into the Phantom of the Opera exhibit and immediately appears as a new victim. The next day Mark reports Tony and China as missing to a local police Inspector, Roberts (Charles McCaughan), who doesn’t seem eager to believe him about the strange Waxworks. Roberts stops by and chats with Lincoln, who lets him looks around. The Inspector takes a sample of the detailed wax on China’s face, believing her to be a sculpture. Roberts is pushed into the Egyptian exhibit where he is killed by the Mummy (Paul Badger).

Mark and Sarah look through some old newspapers in his attic where they find an article on the murder of Michael Loftmore, Mark’s grandfather. The article notes thirty-six items were stolen and provides a picture of David Lincoln, who hasn’t appeared to age a day. Roberts’ partner (Julian Forbes) investigates the Waxwork and is killed by Junior. Mark and Sarah visit Sir Wilfred (Patrick Macnee), Mark’s godfather and friend to his grandfather. Wilfred explains that Lincoln has stolen artifacts belonging to 18 of the most evil men ever. Lincoln is using them to make a pact with the devil and tip the scales in favor of evil. There are only two more displays in need of a victim, so Wilfred tells them they need to burn them and destroy the wax effigies.

Breaking into the Waxwork, Sarah becomes hypnotized and steps into the Marquis de Sade exhibit, becoming his next victim of torture. As a virgin, she is enamored by the ideas of pain and pleasure mixed together. The whipping session lasts longer than anyone the Marquis has ever beaten. Meanwhile, Mark is pushed into a zombie exhibit, which puts him into a black and white universe. He realizes if he doesn’t believe the events that are happening, the creatures hold little sway over him and he can step back through the portal. He enters the Marquis’ exhibit and saves Sarah, somewhat begrudgingly. They are captured by Lincoln and Junior just as James and Gemma arrive, quickly becoming the final two victims in the museum.

With the prophecy fulfilled all the monsters and their victims come to life. Mark and Sarah break free just as Sir Wilfred and his army of aged friends (which includes both Mark and Wilfred’s butlers) enter the Waxwork. Chaos erupts as creatures and possessed victims battle humans. Mark duels with the Marquis de Sade and is almost impaled, but Sarah manages to kill the sadist. Wilfred shoots Lincoln, who falls into a vat of molten wax. The werewolf decapitates Sir Wilfred as a fire breaks out destroying the Waxwork. Mark and Sarah escape, thankful to have stopped the evil from escaping. However, they fail to notice a disembodied zombie hand crawling away through the grass.

“They’ll make a movie about anything nowadays.” – David Lincoln

The film Waxwork is not perfect, but what it lacks in polish it makes up for in quirky campiness. This was the first film for director Anthony Hickox, who would go on to make Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (reviewed earlier this month), this film’s sequel Waxwork 2: Lost in Time, Hellrasier III: Hell on Earth, and Warlock: The Armageddon (he was a master of the Colon). While Waxwork was released theatrically, it featured some of the lower-budget elements that would be come part of the growing direct-to-video releases. It also continued a trend of comedic horror films during the 80s that found a consistent audience, looking for something amongst the more frightening horror films of the decade. Its cast features some popular stars from the 1980s, some from horror, who provide a little more enjoyment for the story than might have been found with a lesser cast.

The strength of the film comes from it’s ability to create a movie inspired by some of the higher concept films from the 50s or 60s, but deliver it with the greater level of filmmaking skills and specific effects from the 1980s. Basically, it was able to look better. Horror films of the 80s fall into two categories: authentically scary films or satirical horror films which may include horrific moments, but tend to trend more comically. Many point to An American Werewolf in London as a film that straddles both sides of the line, even though its primarily scary. Waxwork falls into the latter category, having a higher level of campiness and goofiness to the scenes. None of the scenes are ultimately scary, skewing more comical. It most resembles the style of Night of the Creeps, which follows that traditional 50s style story, but told from the cynical view of the 1980s. The fusion of horror with comedy came to its zenith in the 80s as filmmakers attempted to bring in a wider swath of audiences. Making horror films not as scary appealed to many viewers that were turned off by the overt gore and graphicness of the slasher genre. These films include Beetlejuice, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, House, Re-Animator, Fright Night, Return of the Living Dead, and Gremlins, and balance their jump scares with silliness to counteract the extremes of the genre.

Waxwork brings together the largest group of monsters seen to date in a horror film, and one that is only exceeded by Cabin in the Woods just over two decades later. Fans of many genre franchises appreciate crossovers with similar characters. Look at the popularity of the Marvel and DC Superhero event films like Avengers and Justice League, the battle of Aliens vs. Predators, or the showdown of Freddy vs Jason. Monsters had come together in limited ways in the 1940s with films like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, and House of Dracula, and once again in the 1967 animated Mad Monster Party. These team-ups, crossovers, and battle royales served as a way to showcase some of the publics favorite monsters together at the same time. The previous years’ The Monster Squad created a better pairing of creatures with the right amount of humor versus scares as a group of children had to face off against the powers of darkness. Waxwork took this idea to another level as it assembled 18 separate creatures and monsters, though it chose to only focus on about half a dozen of them.

The cast is made up of a variety of actors, some known for their work in horror, and others for more mainstream drama or comedy. Zach Galligan has appeared in several horror films over his career, but is best known for his role as Billy in Gremlins. Deborah Foreman had only one horror film to her name prior to Waxwork, the equally silly April Fool’s Day. She was best know instead as the titular Valley Girl in the film of the same name. David Warner brought much gravitas with him as a familiar evil character during the 80s, having played Jack the Ripper in Time After Time, the Evil genius in Time Bandits, and Dillinger/Sark in TRON. Dana Ashbrook had early success in Return of the Living Dead II, but found his biggest role in the David Lynch series Twin Peaks. Certainly everyone at the time recognized the werewolf as Indiana Jones’ best friend Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. Finally, Patrick Macnee, best known for his superspy John Steed in The Avengers, and a similar role to the one here in the horror film The Howling, providing another element of notability to the cast. This eclectic mix of actors who were recognizable, but might not have been known by name, created something for everyone in terms of seeing characters they could easily follow based on little to no backstory.

Waxwork has some bizarre scenes and characters that set it apart from most other horror comedies at this time. These elements are not explained, but are included as odd and quirky moments to offset the seriousness of the horror. The first character that stands out, especially today, is the fascist college teacher (Buckley Norris). He is fascinated by Nazi history, having a Swastika flag in his classroom, and a life-size portrait of Hitler, which he stands in front of, aping the same pose. Then there’s Mark’s classist mother who, in her only scene, asks him to stop smoking with the help. She derides the butler and maid, who Mark is friendly with (even if he uses them to do his homework), and “them’s” to the Loftmore’s “us’s.” Finally, Sir Wilfred has a cadre of older cohorts who assist him in storming the Waxwork. Several of these individuals are the butlers that the audience have met. Why are they also part of this secret monster-fighting group? It’s never explained. But it’s yet another of the weird elements that set Waxwork apart from other films of its time. Four years later, Hickox would return with a less than stellar sequel, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, which would reunite Zach Galligan and Patrick Macnee(even though he died here), along with a host of other celebrity cameos, including Bruce Campbell. It can’t compete with the original which remains a fun and light-enough horror film full of bizarre weirdness.

Assorted Musings

• The 18 creatures setup in the Waxwork include: a werewolf, Count Dracula, the Marquis de Sade, a mummy, zombies, the Phantom of the Opera, a witch, a voodoo priest, an axe murderer, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s monster, an Body Snatchers pod, a demonic baby (from It’s Alive), an alien, a Cobra-man freak (presumably influenced by Sssssss), Jack the Ripper, Mr. Hyde, and a golem.
• Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros was a circus performer, who may be best known for his appearance on the cover of The Doors Strange Days album.