In Focus: Waxwork (1988)

A model horror movie.

There’s a lot of nostalgia for the 1980s these days, as evidenced by the success of Stranger Things and the release of films such as The Void and Beyond the Gates which keep one eye firmly trained on the rearview mirror. Whilst that affection is occasionally misplaced, it’s well deserved in the case of Anthony Hickox’s directorial debut Waxwork. Hickox, the son of editor Anne Coates (The Elephant Man) and director Douglas Hickox (Theatre of Blood), famously scored the gig when he drove into a car owned by would-be producer Staffan Ahrenberg and agreed to make amends by writing a script for $3000. Three days later, they had the mould for Waxwork, but it wasn’t until fellow producer Mark Burg intervened with Vestron’s studio head Dan Ireland that the wax could be poured.

Zach Galligan, who slid into television after 1984’s lead roles in Gremlins and offbeat fantasy Nothing Lasts Forever, was cast as reluctant hero Mark Loftmore, partnered with Hickox’s then-girlfriend Deborah Foreman (Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat) as the unexpectedly kinky Sarah Brightman. Adding some solid British support, Hickox called in Avengers veteran Patrick Macnee to play mysterious mentor Sir Wilfred and David Warner (Tron, Time Bandits) as the sinister museum owner whose exhibits are as dangerous as the icons of evil they depict.

The movie isn’t perfect: Hickox had to junk his original finale as time and money ran out, throwing together a rather shambolic free-for-all which is less ultimate showdown than saloon brawl, although elements were resurrected for the 1992 sequel Waxwork II: Lost in Time (with former Sports Illustrated model Monika Schnarre filling in for Foreman following an acrimonious break-up with the writer-director). However, it exhibits genuine energy and inventiveness, with British special effects designer Bob Keen bringing a glorious menagerie of monsters to the screen without the faintest whiff of CGI.

[First published in The Dark Side in 2017.]