In the realm of horror remakes, few were as looked down upon as 2005’s House of Wax. Remaking a Vincent Price classic into a slasher starring Paris Hilton seemed like a strange idea, and the final result wasn’t exactly well-received.
However, as time has gone on, some feel that this movie was unjustly hated, and that there is more to it that critics gave it credit for.
So on its 15th anniversary, we thought it would be fun to take a look at 15 fun facts about this possibly misunderstood horror movie!
1. Despite being a remake of the Vincent Price classic, House of Wax, this movie actually has a lot more in common with the 1979 slasher classic Tourist Trap.
2. Rather than being a last minute add on, Paris Hilton was actually cast first, and the rest of the cast was picked around who she worked well with.
3. Jared Padalecki would go on to star in Supernatural, and there was a 2009 episode “Fallen Idols”, which was based around a wax museum, and even guest starred Paris Hilton!
4. The movie’s marketing went so far as to allow Paris Hilton to sell T-shirts with the slogan “See Paris Die May 6”!
5. Because of Elisha Cuthbert being so much shorter than Jared Padelecki, they had to attach blocks of wood to her shoes to make her taller and closer to his eye line.
6. The character Vincent (who’s revealed to be one of the killers) was named after the Vincent Price.
7. Paris Hilton claims that she ran up and down a flight of stairs before filming her chase scene so that she would be out of breath.
8. This was director Jaume Collet-Serra’s feature film debut, and he would go on to direct Orphan and The Shallows.
9. Screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes would go on to write The Conjuring and its sequel, which were reviewed much higher than House of Wax.
10. During production, a fire broke out and burned down an entire studio (thankfully no one was badly injured).
The studio went so far as to sue David Fletcher (Special Effects Coordinator) for $7 million, alleging that gross negligence on his part caused the fire.
11. Grossed $70 million on a $40 million budget, so while not being a flop, it also didn’t make as much as the studio had hoped.
12. Apparently many audience members cheered in theaters when saw Paris Hilton’s death scene.
13. This was actually the 2nd remake of this story, as the 1953 Vincent Price classic itself was a remake of 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum.
14. Robert Zemeckis (director of the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Cast Away) served as a producer.
15. The film was not very well received, and was even nominated for Worst Picture at the Razzies, but “lost” to Dirty Love. Paris Hilton actually “won” her award for Worst Supporting Actress.
Which of these did you already know? Did any surprise you? Has your opinion changed in the 15 years since House of Wax came out? Let us know in the comments!
For more fun facts, reviews, rankings, and other horror content, follow Halloween Year-Round on Facebook and Twitter!
Halloween Year-Round 