House of Wax

House of Wax was released in 1953. After World War Two, the United States became “one of only two economic and military superpowers” (Phillips 35). America became so powerful that it needed a new monster or a new idea of terror. However, United States has become so powerful that not every simple monster can frighten it. Horror films in this period tend to generate unknown monster from outer space, and the sci-fi horror films prosper with the space race between United States and Soviet Union during Cold War.

 

After World War Two, people are aware that “no matter how heroic your men, how skilled your generals, how staunch your supporters on the Home Front, at the end of the day it was technology that counted like the atom bomb. The more advanced the technology, the more powerful the nation” (Karina). In order to compete against Soviet Union, the United States pursued innovative technology and perfection. However, this kind of pursuing is also dangerous. In House of Wax (1953), the scene is set in 1890 which is America’s Progressive Era, a period that the United States begins to prosperous. The movie setting of the time indicates the society in 1953 when American culture is flourishing. The main character, Jarrod, is eager to create the perfect wax figure that looks authentic. His enthusiasm reflects how American scientist and experts are pursuing perfection. However, his ambition leads him to conduct criminal murder in order to succeed his work. This reminds the audience that the greatest horror is camouflaged in the pursuit of perfection.

 

The similar horror of perfection can also be found in the remake of House of Wax in 2005. The evil brothers are turning real people into wax in order to make an authentic wax figure that will proud their dead mother. However, American culture has greatly changed in 2005. The public taste of horror film has become more sensational and violence. Horror slasher films have increased in this period such as the SAW series. Therefore, the strangling method can no longer frighten the audience, so the remake uses more bloody and brutal way to kill the victims to cater to public taste.

 

Furthermore, another similarity between the remake and the original is that they both let the audience believe that the tragedy might happen in their daily life. According to Forbes magazine, “there are plenty of small towns across America where the economy has been in sharp decline since 2000”, and with the rise of suburban, many small towns have been fading away and disappear on the map. This historical change makes the audience believe that the desolate town in the movie might possibly exist, and a road trip is an experience that everyone has. Therefore, the story setting makes the horror story more fearful since it might happen to the audience.