Film

Waxwork

Name: Waxwork
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Released: 1988
Cast: Zach Galligan, Jennifer Bassey, Joe Baker, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson

Horror comedy

A 1988 horror-comedy where a group of teens are trapped inside a wax museum that literally brings its exhibits to life. Delightfully schlocky, deliberately absurd, and genuinely inventive: each gallery is a miniature horror set-piece with its own rules and aesthetic. It's for people who love 80s genre movies that knew exactly how silly they were and leaned hard into it.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love horror that winks at its own clichés, with gleefully gory set pieces and a late-80s splatter-comedy energy closer to Evil Dead II than to anything solemn.

Skip it if you want restrained scares or a tight, carefully plotted thriller; it is loose, messy and happy to trade logic for another gag or another grisly tableau.

What it asks of you: Ninety-seven minutes that move briskly and get sillier as they go, asking you to laugh at the gore rather than sit tensed through it.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Gate1987

Two kids accidentally open a literal gate to hell in their backyard. Same tonal sweet spot as Waxwork—genuinely unsettling moments wrapped in adolescent humour and charm, with practical effects that still hold up brilliantly.

But The reliance on stop-motion demons might feel dated, and the pacing sags a little in the middle act.

Beetlejuice1988

Tim Burton's masterclass in horror-comedy: a restless ghost comedy that never stops moving, stuffed with visual gags, character invention, and the kind of production design that makes every frame worth studying. Pure pleasure.

But It's more comedy than horror, and if you find Burton's shtick precious, this won't change your mind.

Nightbreed1990

Clive Barker's gorgeous, weird inversion of the monster movie: the creatures are the heroes, the humans are the villains. Bursting with practical creature design, surreal atmosphere, and genuine heart beneath the grotesque visuals.

But The theatrical cut is badly paced due to studio interference; the director's cut fixes it but you have to seek it out deliberately.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Waxwork

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

House on Haunted Hill1999

Both trap their casts in a closed space where reality bends to a building's logic, then make them navigate distinct horror scenarios before an impossible final confrontation.

William Malone's remake is a showcase in digital haunted-house theatre: technically astonishing at the time, a genuine atmosphere throughout, and committed to its own impossible architecture and ghost logic. Visual spectacle that lands emotionally.

But The 1999 CGI looks obviously dated now, which undercuts some of the dread. Also, the plot is pretty thin beneath the production design.

Evil Dead II1987

Sam Raimi's escalating chaos: increasingly impossible gore, deadpan Bruce Campbell, and filmmaking so inventive it practically vibrates off the screen. Every five minutes there's something you've never seen attempted before.

But It's very gory and gruelling even when it's funny; if body horror makes you genuinely uncomfortable, this won't be fun.

Hellraiser1987

Clive Barker's theatrical feature debut is an S&M fever dream with serious craft and a genuinely original mythology. Grotesque, erotic, and terrifying—it commits completely to its vision.

But The sex-and-torture premise is not a joke; if that's off-putting, the film won't soften it to accommodate you.

Videodrome1983

Cronenberg's reality-warping nightmare about a man pulled into a pirate broadcast of surreal violence. Hallucinogenic, darkly funny, and visually revolting in ways that feel utterly fresh even now. An instant cult classic.

But It's genuinely difficult to watch: the body horror is inventive but relentless, and the narrative deliberately destabilises itself.

Night of the Comet1984

Two valley girls are the last humans on Earth after a comet wipes everyone out. A gonzo blend of sci-fi, comedy, and action that treats its female leads as competent and funny rather than victims. Endlessly inventive and charming.

But The low budget occasionally shows, and the tonal whiplash takes real commitment to roll with.

Fright Night1985

A teenager realises his neighbour is a vampire; he enlists a washed-up horror film host to help. Balances genuine suspense with character comedy, and Jerry Dandridge is one of the 80s' best villains—seductive and deeply wrong.

But The comedy sometimes fights the horror, and the climax relies on tricks that feel a bit rushed.

The Fly1986

Cronenberg remakes the 1958 classic with grueling body horror as a scientist gradually becomes an insect. A metaphor for disease and decay that never stops being visceral, funny, and genuinely tragic. Brundle's descent is human and horrifying.

But The stomach-turning practical effects are relentless; if you're squeamish about bodily transformation, this will be unbearable.

Satantango1994

Both are films about being trapped in a space—literal and psychological—where evil isn't external but invited in, and ordinary people prove capable of complicity.

Béla Tarr's seven-hour Hungarian masterpiece about a con-man returning to a housing project and disrupting a fragile community. Hypnotic, glacial black-and-white photography, and a moral weight that Tarr carries through every minute. It's cinema as a physical experience.

But Approaching three hours on screen, it moves at its own pace. If you require plot momentum or clear narrative momentum, this will feel punishing.

Carnival of Souls1962

Both are films where reality itself becomes negotiable, and the horror comes from the protagonist slowly realizing that the rules they thought applied no longer do, trapping them in someone else's nightmare logic.

Herk Harvey's micro-budget masterpiece about a woman haunted by mysterious figures after surviving a car crash. Made for almost nothing in Kansas, it achieves an atmosphere of creeping dread that makes you forget about its limitations. A genuine ghost story with real strangeness.

But Black-and-white, slow-burn, and made in 1962: it requires patience and a particular taste in how horror accumulates. Modern audiences often find it glacial.