The Wax Mask (1997)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

A different way of telling a story

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The Wax Mask (1997) ** (out of 4) A masked maniac breaks into the home of a couple and brutally murders them but their young child survives the whole ordeal. Flash forward many years and this woman is now working at a wax museum when she begins to notice that several recent missing persons appear as "dummies" at the museum.THE WAX MASK comes from producer Dario Argento who had meant for this to be a comeback film for his rival Lucio Fulci. Fulci helped on the story and the screenplay and was set to direct it but he sadly passed away weeks before production. He was replaced by special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti who had worked on films like DEMONS, DEMONS 2, OPERA, THE CHURCH and many others.It's really too bad Fulci passed away because you can't help but wonder what he might have done with the material. As is it, director Stivaletti has created a good looking picture, which is obviously another remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM. Most people know the story from its remake HOUSE OF WAX but either way this here is a more sexual version and of course there's a bit more gore than average.The biggest problem with this movie is that the direction itself is somewhat lifeless as there's really no style to be found and I'd argue that there's no suspense either. The film at least looks good and we are given some pretty Italian ladies showing off their naked bodies, which is always a plus. The special effects are decent for what they are but at the same time you'd expect something a tad bit gorier than what we actually got.I would say that the atmosphere is spot on and you also really do feel as if the setting is authentic. The 1900 Paris is quite believable and I thought the director really captured the look and spirit of the time. Still, in the end, there's not enough going on in the picture to warrant its 98-minute running time.

For all you Massimo Vanni fans - he's not in it much and basically plays a corpse. Also, I think a wax version of Massimo actually has more screen time than Massimo himself.Other folks - this is late era Italian horror film somehow based on something Lucio Fulci dreamed up. Filmed mostly around the Villa Borghese in Rome, it involves a wax museum that's due to open and a young woman who gets a job there. Thing is, peeps go missing and somehow exhibits end up at the museum who resemble them. Coincidence? You find out.I don't want to spoil too much of this plot wise, but as late era Italian horror films go, this one isn't too bad. This is from the real, proper, end of the era, because after this all you're getting is Bruno Mattei and Dario Argento films.There's a bit of gore, and quite a bit of topless female action if that's your thing (and it is, admit it). Also, this film actually has two bizarre but typically Italian twists at the end (one Terminator-influenced!). I found it for 50p at a car boot sale. Maybe you will too.But don't got to Jessie Street Car Boot Sale. That's MY territory.

Wax Mask is an energetic and full blooded horror romp that doesn't tread much new ground but has a fun time all the same.Unsurprisingly, this is a retelling of the familiar "House of Wax" story, but with some more modern and ghoulish overtones. Still with a period setting, the creation of the wax statues is rather more hi-tech than in previous versions of the tale, but the outcome is still the same.It's very well photographed and things move along at a pretty nice speed so it's certainly never boring. There are several graphically gory scenes and they do rival some of the stuff being done by Dario Argento in the late 1980's to early 90s (Argento is involved here too, but not as director). Colours are bright and location settings look great.Sadly the acting is fairly flat, although the English dub is the main culprit here, with a terrible job done, with vocals that show no sensitivity to any possible subtlety in the original performances. Its so bad it almost renders the whole movie as one giant cartoon. So don't expect to have any emotional attachment to any of the characters, but you can still enjoy the vibrant gore and the outrageous liberties taken with the possibilities of biology and science of the period (you'll know what I mean when you see the ending!). So realism is pretty much out the window, and yet, it's still a great fun movie to watch if you don't try and take it seriously

Paris December 31, 1900: a grisly mass murder. And then in Rome, 12 years later... a young man accepts a dare to stay overnight in a spooky wax museum. Something not quite right is going on there, but this man's stay is only the beginning.Written by Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, two masters who were more known to be at odds than to collaborate. Director of photography, special effects and directing all by Sergio Stivaletti. Dedicated to Lucio Fulci, the Italian horror master.The film opens with a spectacular moving camera shot, and blood-spattered bodies strewn about. This sets quite a tone, and it's any wonder this film is not better known. Followed by a shot of black-gloved hands, a staple of Argento's work.The men's hairstyles seem to be quite odd... what I will call the Italian mullet. One of these mullet men named Alex (Umberto Balli) looks like the cross between Bill Maher and Julian Sands. The woman who plays Sonia Lafont (Romina Mondello), though, is not only stylish, but incredibly beautiful in an exotic but innocent way. And somehow they got away with showing a preteen girl topless, which may be okay in Italy, but seems strange not being cut out when dubbed for American audiences.Obviously, some of the ground here has been covered in other wax museum films -- notably "House of Wax" with Vincent Price, where they seem to have got much inspiration. But there are new surprises, and an excess of gore -- including a robotic hand that rips a heart straight from a chest! Add in some"Crawlspace"-esquire voyeurism, and voila! The film seems to drag on a bit longer than necessary, which is more a pacing issue than anything (it runs a modest 91 minutes). That aside, it is a good addition to the modern Italian horror film, with Sergio Stivaletti proving himself a capable director. I almost want to say on the level of Michele Soavi, but that would be going too far.