Horror, movies and Waxwork

Several years back I studied a Film & Television History module as part of my history degree which changed the way that I view and understand the medium. My husband, who is my full-time carer, attended the tutorials with me and admits that he also has a tendency to watch a little more closely than he did prior to the course. We watch the way that directors have set up shots, the camera angles, the influence of the censors and changes in technology. It is fascinating to watch the influence of different eras and societies on the screen, particularly when you compare a remake with the original and see how and why it has altered. That said, I am not particularly keen on reviews and blogs that waffle on endlessly about camera angles and so on. It has a tendency to sound pretentious and rather boring.
 

My favourite genre is horror, not those films that tend to torture or rip people into pieces, but those that have a psychological tilt or are a commentary on society, such as George Romero's '...of the Dead' movies. Since the Horror Channel  has arrived on freeview, I have watched movies that I have loved for years and some that I just did not know existed. One of those is Waxwork (1988, A.Hickox), shown yesterday (and probably repeated several times); my initial assumption was that it was going to be similar in nature to Michael Crichton's Westworld (1973) where people enter a new entertainment playground, only to have something tragic happen and a number of their friends pass away. I was pretty much spot on with that.

 

In this deliberately cheesy 80s horror-comedy a group of teens are invited to view a not-quite-ready-to-open waxworks exhibition in their home town, after dark.  The mysterious owner is insistent that there should be no more than six teenagers attend the after-hours event. Even though they are uncomfortable and slightly creeped out by the caretaker who invites them, the two girls and two male friends agree to go. Naturally enough - given the genre - two are lost in quick succession, yet the other two somehow manage to miss exactly how their friends are lost. Thus begins a search and a fight against both time and evil. I have to admit that although I started watching the film with the expectation of waxworks coming alive, there was a nice little twist to the concept as victims were catapulted through time and space. It turned out to be an entertaining and interesting little film, that I would watch again and still enjoy.