Film Analysis(House of wax)

Film Analysis “House of wax”

Synopsis: Six friends are on their way to a football game. They decide to camp out for the night and continue driving the next day. The next day the friends find that they're having car troubles, so two of the friends accept a stranger's ride into a small town named Ambrose. The main attraction in Ambrose is the House of Wax. Except something is not right in this town, the wax figures are so realistic and the whole town is deserted - except for two murderous twin brothers. The six friends must fight to survive and escape from being the next exhibits in the House of Wax. (Source IMDB)

Notable characters in relation to props theory:

“The villain”: The only two noticeable villains that we see are “Vincent” who wears a mask and hunts down the group of protagonists. The other one is “Bo” though while realized to be a villain, he is a “false hero” because he originally helps the protagonists.

“The hero”: House of wax seems to go against this theory in some ways because there is arguably no hero. The 2 closest characters the hero archetype are “Carly jones” that fits carols clovers “Final girl” theory. The other character that could fit the hero archetype is “Nick jones”. He is the brother of Carly and ends up protecting her and surviving throughout the film ye at the start of the film seems to be more hostile to the rest of the characters.

“The donor”: There is no “donor” in this film which goes against props theory

“The helper”: There is no notable “helper in this film which goes against props theory

“The false hero”: The false hero in this film is a character named “Bo”. When he is first introduced he seems to be helping the protagonist but when he splits them up he is revealed to be a false hero and kills the “Wade” character. Another character that could be considered a false hero is the “Road kill driver”. He helps the hero’s get to the town but is considered odd by the protagonist’s. We see him at the end of the film smiling as the 2 heroes are rescued. This implies he knew what happened in the town but we as the audience do not know for sure.

“The princess: It is debateable that the “Carly jones” also fits this archetype as she is the person the other hero (Nick) is trying to save.

“Her father”: The person that is the closest to this archetype is the “Sheriff”. He leads the police officers that come after the villains have been defeated and the reward he brings is the freedom for Carly and Nick to leave the town.

“The dispatcher”: There is no notable “dispatcher” in the film whish goes against props theory.

Narrative structure in relation to Todorov’s theory

At the start of the film there is equilibrium as the main protagonists are on their way to an American football game. They appear to be happy in this collection of scenes as there is not much conflict between the characters. The only exception to this is the character “Nick jones” that disrupts the equilibrium by being hostile to the rest of the characters but not in a significant enough way to break the equilibrium. This equilibrium is disrupted as “the signifier” takes place.in this case Bo  shows up and scares the protagonists but does not show his identity. This brings up an enigma for the characters and the audience and sets up the rest of the film. For the remainder of the film until the end the characters are in constant danger thus there is no equilibrium. However at the end of the film when the 2 antagonists are killed and the 2 remaining protagonist are saved there is equilibrium. Even though for the characters friends have died they still seem to come to peace at the end of the film. It also significant to point out that the “Nick Jones” character becomes a much nicer character by the end of the film all of this fits in with Todorov’s theory.

Carol clovers final girl theory

In House of the wax there is clear evidence of this theory being used. The final girl in this film is the “Carly jones” character. Throughout the film she never has sex does drugs or anything that would be deemed bad in a conservative society. She also talks about the prospect of going to New York to work at a big fashion label. This seen as successful in a conservative ideology as getting a high paid job is what people should strive for in life. Carly envisions everything a girl should strive to be in a conservative society. This is in grave contrast to the “Paige Edwards” character. She is almost a polar opposite to Carly. She is seen performing sexual acts in the film and has no real prospects in life. In a conservative society this is deemed a bad or improper way of life. She is also revealed to be pregnant even though she is not married. Carols theory should suggest that the “Carly jones” character should survive until the end of the film and be the “final girl” and that the “Paige Edwards” Should die or be “Punished” for her anti conservative mentality. This is true in this film because the “Paige Edwards” character ends up getting killed by one the antagonists but the “Carly jones” character survives until the end of film thus supporting carols theory.