House of Wax

Paris Hilton shrieks her way through House of Wax. Picture / Reuters

(Herald rating: * *)

If this film wasn't so ridiculous, and Paris Hilton didn't die, then House of Wax would deserve only one star. However, veteran producers Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and Joel Silver (Matrix trilogy) know something about movie audiences, and they knew this remake of the 1953 horror classic would need a gimmick to pull in the teenagers. The gimmick is Hilton, and the gimmick works.

The film has other stars too. Elisha Cuthbert (24) takes the lead as Carly, while Chad Michael Murray (Dawson's Creek), as her squabbling sibling Nick, adds the hunky bad boy element. Carly and Nick, and four mates take a road trip to a football game. They take a shortcut and end up camping in the middle of nowhere. Oh no, the old short-cut trick.

When Carly's boyfriend Wade discovers his fan-belt is mysteriously broken, Carly and Wade hitch a lift with a dodgy redneck character straight out of Deliverance to the nearest town, Ambrose.

It's the kind of place you want to drive through without stopping, but our naive Florida teenagers just can't stop themselves from taking a good look around. The town appears empty, decrepit, forgotten and is home to a creepy House of Wax, but Wade and Carly manage to find a nice mechanic who is a little too keen to help them out.

Finally, the slashing begins. It's hard to believe this film goes on for 110 minutes. A set-up this simple shouldn't take as long as it does, and more than once you find yourself encouraging director Collet-Sera to cut to the chase - literally.

Once the stalking and cheap scares do begin the film becomes an amusing experience, encouraging the audience to react out loud to the absurd and gruesome demise of the cast.

When Cuthbert is fighting for her life against the small town psychos you have to wonder if she's pretending they're the agents who got her involved in this film. Although she does the best with the tacky script, it's Paris' appalling performance which steals the show. Paris can't scream, run, or hide (or anything) convincingly. Flirting, pouting, and pashing her on-screen boyfriend is all she manages (just).

CAST: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton
DIRECTOR: Jaume Collet-Sera
RUNNING TIME: 110 mins
RATING: R16 (contains horror scenes and violence)
SCREENING: Village Hoyts, Berkeley Cinemas