that the hand from the zombie display is scuttling away from the rubble. Cast Production The script for the film was written by Hickox in three days. Initially there were concerns that the film would be too similar to The Monster Squad, which came out the year before. Bob Keen was also brought on board to handle the visual effects. The "eighteen most evil beings" used in the film are the Marquis de Sade, a werewolf, Count Dracula (his Brides and son exist only within the portal and are not among those displayed), a Golem, the Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy, George A. Romero-style zombies, Frankenstein's monster, Jack the Ripper, The Invisible Man, a voodoo priest, a witch, a snakeman, Rosemary's Baby, an axe murderer, an alien, a giant talking venus flytrap, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Release The film was given a limited release in the United States by Vestron Pictures in June 1988. It grossed $808,114 at the box office. It was released by Vestron Video the same year on VHS in both R-rated and Unrated editions. The film's budget was $3.5 million. The film was released on DVD in 2003 by Artisan Entertainment as a double feature with the sequel Waxwork II: Lost in Time and again in 2012 as part of an 8 horror film collection DVD. Lionsgate released the film on Blu-ray for the first time along with its sequel, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, on October 18, 2016, as part of their Vestron Video Collector's Series line. Reception Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 60%, based on 10 reviews, and a rating average of 4.6/10. TV Guide gave the movie one out of five stars, stating that fans of gore will be pleased, but finding little else of worth. It did note the cast is made up of stars of other horror movies. John Stanley in the Creature Feature Guide had a higher opinion of the movie giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars. He cited the intriguing premise as one reason for the positive review. Other media A comic adaption of the film was published by Blackthorne Publishing in November 1988, one as a black and white one-shot, and one as Waxwork 3-D Special # 1 (# 55 of Blackthorne's Blackthorne 3-D Series). Sequel In 1992, the sequel Waxwork II: Lost in Time was released. References External