Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

filmguy66 this has got to be one of the most boring films i've ever seen. awful dubbing, characters that you care nothing about. there really isn't much here to praise. though i did like the killer w/his metal arm and nasty needle. it's a wonder what Fulci would've done with the film had he lived long enough. the script, though written by Fulci Daniele Stropa w/work by Argento is far from great. i had more fun doing my laundry than watching this movie. there are far better Italian horror films out there. rent this 1 only if you're a die-hard Fulci & Argento fan. though they've both made much better films than this. i had high hopes after reading the review on IMDb, but now i'm let down.

Matthew Janovic This is a sorely-overlooked film that began as a project for the ailing Lucio Fulci (who died at the 11th-hour), and ended-up being the first film for Italian makeup-maestro, Sergio Stivaletti. While it is often daft, it is also so audacious and original in its reimagining of "House of Wax" that it inexplicably overcomes any of its weaknesses. Produced-by Dario Argento (as well as co-scripted in some areas), this alchemical-horror succeeds where the recent Hollywood-remake fails, and all on a $3 million-budget! That's catering for the recent "House of Wax", right? Its only major-downside--a minor one--is that Paris Hilton's murder isn't depicted here, which accounts for half the box-office of that version.It is difficult not to be won-over by the visual purity of this film, even with the problems of plot (common to Italian cinema, though much of this is explained-by a an emphasis on the "thematic"), and it is very-very entertaining and fantastical. One would assume that the alchemical-themes in the story were Argento's contributions, however, English horror-cineaste Alan Jones has written they are Stivaletti's, which is pretty amazing. For those who are familiar with the makeup-artisan's work in films by Argento, Soavi, and Lamberto Bava, you are in for a treat.While this film is definitely flawed, it succeeds in being a great romp for action, mystery, and naturally, gore. From a hardcore heart-ripping by mechanical-hands, to melting-cadavers, it is an original-contribution to bodily-defilement by the director and his makeup crew. With obvious expositions on nanotechnology and cybernetics, I was pretty creeped-out. Maybe it was me, but I thought a lot of the film had elements of the French silent serials like "Judex", or even "Les Vampiers". There are--of course--scenes that will make most Anglo-American audiences cringe, and you'll know them when you see them, but you knew you were watching an Italian genre-film, no? Yet, it is so very classical in its combination of Gaston Leroux and Jules Verne! One-remaining Fulci-subplot remains--it concerns a doppleganger of a main-character, and is oddly resonant with Stivaletti's-contributions. The familiar-theme of the misunderstood-genius, and the brutality of the human-condition creating monsters reminds one of Captain Nemo, or the Phantom of the Opera. But what this films really reminds-me-of is that many great Italian-filmmakers understand there is no line-between "high" and "low" art. This is often lost on us in North America, but it is common in mainland European culture. The alchemical themes are great too. Lucio Fulci, RIP.

Skaven252 While I agree with most of the other comments here - that the film has a lot of potential but unfortunately doesn't quite live up to it - I would like to mention that I really like the soundtrack for this film. Composed by Maurizio Abeni, it could be called "romantic horror film music". That is, very dramatic, melodically rich. It sounds a bit like Ennio Morricone and Danny Elfman put together. I feel the music brought a whole new dimension to the film. Without it, I would have shrugged the movie off as yet another horror flick.For those who have frustrated themselves trying to order the CD from Amazon com, try Googling around. There are some retailers in Europe that sell it. I got mine from discPLUS.ch.

jangu If you are familiar with italian horror, you get exactly what you expect here. Adequate to terrible performances, atrocious dubbing, gaudy visuals at the expens of characters you actually care about and imaginatively staged murders. However, this film was better than i expected, since director Stivaletti is primarily a make-up man and tried his hand at directing here for the first time. The (I suspect limited) budget is used well with varied locales for the different scenes, nice art-direction and costumes and crisp camerawork. Pace is well maintained throughout the movie which distracts you from some of the less obvious plot-holes. The waxmaster himself does quite a good actingjob, not hamming it up. As for "the good guys", the leading lady is adequate but at bit dull. Our supposed "hero" is however damagingly miscast and comes over as a complete bore. As is usually the case with italian horror, the visuals are at the fore here with rich colours (which of course includes crimsonred blood), lovingly filmed and accompanied by a good and appropriately romantic score. The finale, as a few others have stated, is quite bad but fun in a way with some terminatoresque touches that are unexpected, to say the least. And the murders, surprisingly few, are competently put together with a sufficient amount of gore to satisfy fans. Overall, entertaining and good fun, if you dont expect "Citizen Cane".