Waxwork (1988)

Written & Directed by Anthony Hickox

Produced by Staffan Ahrenberg

Starring Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson, Dana Ashbrook, Miles O'Keeffe, J. Kenneth Campbell, John Rhys-Davies, Patrick Macnee, David Warner, Charles McCaughan

'Twas with great delight that I approached Anthony Hickox's debut feature again (after a nearly thirteen year interval), recollecting it with fond memories. My how the memory can play tricks sometimes! Not to say that "Waxwork" is without its merits, however time has not been particularly kind to it, and additionally what starts well finishes up in rather slap-dash fashion. Secondly, either my fading memory is playing some rather unpleasant tricks on me, or Hickox's film is actually a lot LESS gory than I remember it (can't believe that the BBFC have slapped it with an '18' classification as its visuals aren't really all that strong!). All the same, the fans out there will be pleased to learn that Columbia have snuck a restored version of the Unrated edition past the BBFC (as everything previously claimed cut is present in this disc!). Thank God for small mercies.

Spoilt rich-kid Mark Loftmore (Galligan) is having a few hiccups in his relationship with his feisty girlfriend, China (Johnson). Friends Tony (Ashbrook) and Sarah (Foreman) think he should put it all behind him and move on. While Mark fumes over being dumped, China and Sarah make their way home from class only to discover a strange house in their neighbourhood that has seemingly materialised out of thin air. Even more unusual is that it is a waxwork, run by the rather creepy David Lincoln (Warner) and a pair of even kookier assistants. Lincoln invites the girls to a midnight private showing, encouraging them to bring friends, but "no more than six". Spooked by the old house, two friends make tracks leaving only Mark, China, Sarah and Tony to investigate the eerie displays come the witching hour.

Suffice to say, there is more to Mr. Lincoln's waxwork than meets the eye and any horror buff worth his salt will immediately guess why those wax figures look so surprisingly life-like! Throw into the mix inquisitive police Inspector Roberts (McCaughan), Lincoln's lifelong nemesis Sir Wilfred (Macnee), and dimensional portals hidden in each exhibit that lead directly to the likes of the Marquis De Sade (Campbell) and Count Dracula (O'Keeffe) and you've got a unique little tongue-in-cheek flick. Did I mention a plot to resurrect history's greatest monsters to enslave the world? Yeah, there's enough ideas going on in here to fill out half a dozen genre films.

So what's all the fuss about this film? Afterall, on the surface it seems little more than half dumb teen comedy, half dopey horror comedy, right? Well, turn your attention to then fledgling director Anthony Hickox, son of the great Douglas Hickox who many will remember for imparting the legacy of Vincent Price's wondrous "Theatre Of Blood" (1973). Born into a show business family, young Tony obviously harboured a great love of horror films and watching this film it shows. All the classic monsters are present (Dracula, the Mummy, a Werewolf, the Frankenstein monster, even Jack the Ripper…but you've got to look closely!), as well as some not so classic monsters (erm, since when was the Marquis De Sade considered a monster, or a swashbuckler for that matter?). But it's all done in an affectionate tongue-in-cheek manner, and ably fuelled by Bob Keen's Image Animation's economic (though well executed) effects work.

The cast is good (Zach's a bit dozy, Michelle's gorgeous, Deb shines, and Dana kills time efficiently before his "Twin Peaks" star turn), but the original Steed himself, Patrick Macnee, steals the show as wheelchair bound Sir Wilfred. His mere presence lends a touch of class to what many will see as a hokey low budget affair. My only real complaints of the film in retrospect is that it could have done with a bit of tightening up in the lead-in, and the climax is frightfully embarrassing. The confrontation between the forces of good and evil is so dopey that it looks like it's strayed in from a film aimed squarely at a younger audience than the "unrated" tag suggests (outlandish gore aside); and the final shots of the burning waxwork wouldn't have been out of place in an episode of "The Goodies". I physically cringed at the finale's amateurish visual effects, they're that bad! But otherwise, it had lashings of gore, some cool monster FX, and some really nasty vampires (bring 'em on!), so it's not all bad. All the same, Columbia had some balls to release this one at 20 Quid, it should've been a budget title per much of MGM/UA's back catalogue titles. And by the way, exactly where did that chicken come from? Fans will know what I mean…

Okay, the disc. Columbia's R2 disc is presented fullframe (boo!), but as there is quite a healthy degree of head-room in any given scene I would surmise that this is actually an open matte edition of the original 1.85 frame. If that's actually the case, then we are actually missing out on nothing, instead gaining some additional picture information at the top and bottom of the frame. As much as I would have liked to have seen Hickox's film letterboxed and anamorphically enhanced, this is still an acceptably good rendition. The image is generally fairly clean and colourful, with nice definition and clarity. It's only during some of the darker scenes that no small amount of film grain creeps in, which is unfortunately slightly distracting by its abundance. Oh well, it's a low budget horror flick, right? A big plus though is the inclusion of a Dolby 2.0 surround track which is full of life and ups the general mood complimenting the comic strip visuals nicely. Extras come in the form of the film's trailer (fullframe) and filmographies for Hickox & all of the principal cast. Sony have also generated a cute animated menu selection that, while nothing special, is a welcome inclusion (considering many larger films are serviced by static menus).

Fans will rush out and buy this underrated gem (no matter what the price!) now that it's available in its uncensored version (like I did…ahem). For everyone else, I suggest a rental first, as it definitely won't be everyone's idea of a great night's entertainment. I don't doubt for a minute that many might find it terribly dated, but if you grew up on old school horrors like the Hammer films as I did then you might just find something in it to warm the cockles of your heart. As a quirky note of trivia, look closely and you might just see the China Blue character from Ken Russell's "Crimes Of Passion" (desperately overdue for DVD re-release) wander by in the background of one scene. It was knowing nods like this that set Hickox's small film apart from the usual fluff of the era for me. Is it any wonder the man went on to direct "Hellraiser III" and the massively under-appreciated "Sundown"? "Oh my goodness!" indeed…

Review by M.C.Thomason