text: I recently saw House of Wax and must say i really enjoyed it.<br /><br />it's been one of the better Horror/Thriller films in the past few years, if not one of the best and most entertaining.<br /><br />i've heard a lot of people bashing the so-called slow start and character development which takes up the Films opening 45 minutes.<br /><br />yet if the film dived straight into the deaths, audiences and critics would have criticised the film for not having decent characters who they couldn't care less about.<br /><br />well as for the character development, i think it worked amazingly well.<br /><br />taking into my own response and others (from reading posts off the message board), a lot of people ended up wanting the characters to live, one of which i've noticed many people mentioning being Paige Edwards (Paris Hilton). taking into consideration Warner. Bros. have been marketing her death, its a surprise turn around that many audiences ended up cheering her on for survival.<br /><br />speaking of the chase/death scenes, they were some of the most inventive and suspenseful i've witnessed in a while, and enjoyed each one very much.<br /><br />the acting in the film was absolutely fine, i couldn't fault any of them, especially Paris Hilton, i thought she was very decent and i was hoping for her the get more than a mere 25 minutes screen time in a 120 minute film, yet her chase scene made up for that, and believe me when i say Paris can act scared, (Watch the scene where she's hiding in a car from Vincent and he walks past her .... the look of terror on her face comes across as VERY real).<br /><br />Overall i give House of Wax maximum stars, for entertainment value and suspense and even gore ...... only criticism is i wish that during the marketing for the film, they hadn't revealed the death list and who dies and who survives, as it would have been ten times better not knowing if the character being chased was going to live or die and horrible death.<br /><br />can't wait for the DVD, but go see it at the Cinema while you can, it won't be the same in your own front room, yet if you do wait for the DVD, watch the film in the dark with no interruptions, trust me you wont be disappointed.