Waxwork (1988)

Director:

Anthony Hickox

Writer:

Anthony Hickox (writer)

Release Date:

17 June 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Stop On By And Give Afterlife A Try.

Plot:

A wax museum owner uses his horror exhibits to unleash evil on the world.

Plot Keywords:

Wax Museum | Evil | College | Virgin | Wax Statue

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Zach Galligan	...	Mark
Jennifer Bassey	...	Mrs. Loftmore
Joe Baker	...	Jenkins
Deborah Foreman	...	Sarah
Michelle Johnson	...	China
David Warner	...	Waxwork Man
Eric Brown	...	James
Clare Carey	...	Gemma
Buckley Norris	...	Lecturer
Dana Ashbrook	...	Tony
Micah Grant	...	Johnathan
Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros	...	Hans (as Mihaly 'Michu' Mesza)
Jack David Walker	...	Junior (as Jack David Warner)
John Rhys-Davies	...	Werewolf
Nelson Welch	...	Elderly Man
Miles O'Keeffe	...	Count Dracula
Christopher Bradley	...	Stephan
Irene Olga López	...	Maid
Charles McCaughan	...	Inspector Roberts
Julian Forbes	...	Police Driver
Edward Ashley	...	Professor Sutherland
Kendall Conrad	...	Girl in Pyramid
Patrick Macnee	...	Sir Wilfred
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	Marquis de Sade
Anthony Hickox	...	English Prince
Staffan Ahrenberg	...	French Guard
Gabriella Dufwa	...	Courtesan
Gary M. Bettman	...	Mark's Grandfather
James D.R. Hickox	...	Werewolf Killer's Assistant
Candi	...	Dracula's Butler (as Candy)
James Lincoln	...	Dracula's Man Servant
Merle Stronck	...	Vampire Girl #1
Joanne Russell	...	Vampire Girl #2
Ann Sophie Noblet	...	Vampire Girl #3
Paul Badger	...	Mummy
Eyal Rimmon	...	Egyptian Boy
Kim Henderson	...	Marquis de Sade Girl #1
Hilary English	...	Marquis de Sade Girl #2
Nicole Seguin	...	Marquis de Sade Girl #3
Carolyn Bray	...	Marquis de Sade Girl #4
Henrietta Folkeson	...	Marquis de Sade Girl #5
Dan Ireland	...	Zombie #1 (scenes deleted)
Karen Schaffer	...	Zombie #2
Leonard Pollack	...	Zombie #3
Bruce Barlow	...	Zombie #4
Cliff Wallace	...	Zombie #5
Dave Elsey	...	Zombie #6
Gerry Lively	...	Sir Wilfred's Butler
Steven Santamaria	...	Taxi Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom MacGreevey	...	Charles
Inger Armour	...	College student (uncredited)
Stephen Jacques	...	College student (uncredited)

Directed by
Anthony Hickox

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Anthony Hickox		writer

Produced by
Staffan Ahrenberg	....	producer
Gregory Cascante	....	executive producer
William W. Edwards	....	line producer
Julian Forbes	....	assistant producer
Dan Ireland	....	executive producer
William J. Quigley	....	executive producer
Eyal Rimmon	....	producer
Mario Sotela	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Roger Bellon

Cinematography by
Gerry Lively

Film Editing by
Christopher Cibelli

Casting by
Carlo Jones

Production Design by
Gianni Quaranta

Art Direction by
Peter Marangoni

Set Decoration by
Suzette Sheets

Costume Design by
Leonard Pollack

Makeup Department
Ian Brown	....	special makeup effects artist
Stuart Conran	....	special makeup effects artist
Mark Coulier	....	special makeup effects artist
Dave Elsey	....	senior makeup effects artist
Steve Hardie	....	special makeup effects technician
Steve Hardie	....	werewolf and hand effects
Alan Hedgcock	....	special makeup effects artist
Paul Jones	....	special makeup effects artist
Dave Keen	....	special makeup effects technician
Nina Kraft	....	hair designer
Nina Kraft	....	makeup designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary M. Bettman	....	first assistant director
Bob Keen	....	second unit director
Richard Oswald	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Miranda Amador	....	scenic artist
Timothy Baxter	....	construction coordinator
Chuck Becker	....	scenic artist
David S. Brennan	....	property master
Stan Bryant	....	master carpenter
Jay Burkhart	....	carpenter
Patrick K. Coppinger	....	scenic artist
George Dunn	....	carpenter
Flint Esquerra	....	swing gang
Valerie Gough	....	carpenter
David Halver	....	construction crew
Cole Lewis	....	scenic artist
Manuel Morales	....	construction crew
Jess Moreno	....	set dresser
Tom O'Brien	....	master carpenter
James L. Ricker	....	carpenter
Amy Ryder	....	lead man
Brian Sedor	....	construction crew
Joseph Sedor	....	construction foreman
Thom Shephard	....	assistant property master
Bob Sportelli	....	construction crew
Corine Gee Turner	....	scenic artist
Bob Varney	....	carpenter
Christina Volz	....	set dresser
Douglas Womack	....	construction location boss
Gregory Zemgals	....	swing gang
Jay Koiwai	....	stand-by painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Dennis Diltz	....	sound effects editor
Mark Ettel	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jeff Gomillion	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Gomillion	....	sound recordist
Don Isaacs	....	supervising sound effects editor
Stephen A. Isaacs	....	adr editor
Robert Janiger	....	production sound mixer
Donlee Jorgensen	....	sound effects editor
Leonard Marcel	....	sound designer
Cathy McKelvey	....	sound effects assistant
T.A. Moore Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer (as T.A. Moore)
George W. Scott	....	boom operator
Lee Thomas	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Ray Beetz	....	special effects technician
Lou Carlucci	....	special effects technician
Jeff Frink	....	special effects technician
Steve Galich	....	special effects pyrotechnics supervisor
Bob Keen	....	special effects
Joe Knott	....	special effects technician
Patrick Tantalo	....	special effects makeup
Cliff Wallace	....	special makeup effects technician

Visual Effects by
Brendan Lonergan	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Stunts
Bob Bragg	....	stunt coordinator (as Bobby Bragg)
Rich Bragg	....	stunts
Phil Chong	....	stunts
Sandra Lee Gimpel	....	stunts (as Sandy Gimpel)
Kane Hodder	....	stunts
Shanna Lynn	....	stunts (as Shanna Teare)
Billy Morts	....	stunts
Denney Pierce	....	stunts (as Denny Pierce)
Paul E. Short	....	stunts (as Paul Short)

Camera and Electrical Department
Russ Brandt	....	gaffer
Richard Clabaugh	....	camera operator
James Eaton	....	assistant camera: second unit
Larry Edwards	....	key grip (as Larry Edwards Jr.)
David E. Elkins	....	first assistant camera
Alan Frazier	....	best boy grip
Steve Gero	....	gaffer: second unit
Duane Journey	....	dolly grip
Joel Levinson	....	special still photographer
Michael Martino	....	assistant camera
Melissa Moseley	....	still photographer
Bob Myers	....	grip
David Parker	....	grip
Drex Reed	....	best boy electric
John Schwartzman	....	director of photography: second unit
James Lawrence Spencer	....	electrician
David Stein	....	grip

Editorial Department
Sid Cole	....	negative cutter
Bob Fredrickson	....	color timer
James D.R. Hickox	....	first assistant editor
Ann L. Thornberg	....	assistant film editor
Jim Williams	....	color timer

Music Department
William Ashford	....	orchestrator
Roger Bellon	....	orchestrator
Tim Boyle	....	score mixer
Fiona Brohamer	....	composer assistant
George Doering	....	musician
Jimmy Ienner	....	music supervisor
Ken Johnson	....	music editor
Steve Livingston	....	music editor
Amy Molina	....	orchestrator
R. Russell Smith	....	score mixer (as Rusty Smith)

Transportation Department
Adam Alexander Witlin	....	transportation captain

Other crew
John Booth	....	production assistant
Betty Davidson	....	craft service
Jack Davidson	....	craft service
Steve Elngren	....	paramedic
Gregory A. Gale	....	script supervisor: second unit
Max Kovins	....	production assistant
Jesse Long	....	script supervisor
Paul Martin	....	production assistant
Heather Mills	....	production coordinator
John Neis	....	production assistant
Jerry Wilton	....	paramedic
Adam Alexander Witlin	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• Vestron Pictures
• Electric Pictures
• Contemporary Films
• HB Filmrullen
• Palla

Distributors

• Vestron Pictures (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cineplex Odeon Films (1988) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (DVD)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (19??) (UK) (VHS)
• Indigo (2010) (Germany) (DVD) (Twilight Classics Nr. 01)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2003) (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (1989) (UK) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min | 97 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA | West Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2009) (uncut) | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #29208) | West Germany:18 (cut)

Filming Locations:

637 S Lucerne Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Vestron Pictures

Trivia:

Karen Schaffer, who was the lady Zombie in the graveyard sequence, was actually the secretary of executive producer, and fellow Zombie, Dan Ireland.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sarah is in Mark's attic, she looks at a book of the Marquis de Sade in a trunk and it glows with white light. When Sarah looks up, hypnotized by the book when it glows, her left hand runs up to the top of her dress. However, in the very next shot, Sarah's left hand is suddenly down and it runs up to the top of her dress all over again.

Quotes:

[Mark is threatened by an armed French guard]
Mark Loftmore:I'm sorry, I was never very good at languages.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1990)

Soundtrack:

It's My Party

Silly, but not a total waste of time

If you can get through the first half hour of this film, which features bad dialogue and stiff performances, you may just enjoy it.

A small group of spoiled teens (and one nice girl) go into a mysterious wax museum after hours and each succumb to a different, and dangerous, display. John Rhys Davies (long before his now famous "Gimli the Dwarf" days) is here as a tortured, dramatic werewolf. Miles O'Keefe (whom hardcore MST3K fans will have no trouble recognizing) is a hair product dependent Count Dracula, who seduces the rich-bitch of the group into a nasty, bloody, gross-out dinner party. The Nice Girl (Deborah Foreman) is drawn into the S&M world of The Marquis De Sade (as played by the too seldom seen J. Kenneth Campbell) and it is up to the rich boy turned nice guy to save her before she is whipped to death. Once all of the displays are filled, the characters within are unleashed, and it becomes a war within the wax museum as the remaining heroes must now battle the wax monsters and their transformed friends.

All in all, this plays more like a comedy than a horror film, but the violence, when it appears, is so over-the-top that splatter fans won't be too disappointed.

Followed by a pretty good sequel filled with numerous references to classic horror. Worth checking out at least once.