Synopsis

While driving to a college football game, a group of friends becomes stranded near the isolated town of Ambrose, Iowa. After one vehicle is sabotaged, Carly and her companions seek help and discover the town's seemingly abandoned House of Wax. Its lifelike exhibits conceal a horrifying secret, forcing the survivors into a desperate fight against brothers who turn human victims into wax figures.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was shot in Queensland, Australia. The production built the town of Ambrose near Guanaba, with its design inspired by Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.

• Ambrose was constructed in approximately 10 weeks. The filmmakers built the town as a complete environment rather than relying only on street facades.

• Around 20 tons of wax were used for the sets. The wax figures took roughly seven months to create, with more than 100 detailed figures modeled after real people.

• The production emphasized practical effects. For the scene in which a character is transformed into a wax figure, a 3D body scan was used to create a matching full-size figure.

• On June 27, 2004, a controlled fire effect went out of control and destroyed a soundstage, three sets, and production equipment. No one was injured, but several sets had to be rebuilt.

• The movie shares its title and wax-museum premise with the 1953 House of Wax, which was itself based on the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum. The 2005 version uses a substantially different story.

• Warner Bros. promoted the film with the slogan "See Paris Die," making the death of Paris Hilton's character a central part of the marketing campaign.