History Film / Waxwork

** Could be FridgeBrilliance, as the waxworks represent fictional villains, possibly including a ''fictionalized'' version of de Sade.

* KnightOfCerebus: The Marquis de Sade. His abuse of Sarah is most certainly ''[[DudeNotFunny not]]'' PlayedForLaughs, nor are his promises to turn her over to the Prince of England so that she can be used "like the whore she [is]".

Despite its name and setting, the video game ''VideoGame/WaxWorks'' has nothing to do with the films.

''Waxwork'' is a horror comedy released in 1988.

''Waxwork'' is a horror-comedy released in 1988.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper is killed offscreen by [[{{Nosferatu}} Orlok]].]]

A mysterious wax museum shows up in a suburban neighborhood one night. Mark and his friends are naturally curious about it, but they soon find out the owner's true intentions. It turns out anyone who enters the museum dies after being sucked into one of the displays [[spoiler: (unless they can convince themselves that [[YourMindMakesItReal it's not real]])]]. When the right amount of people die in the museum, all of the waxworks will come to life and help the owner take over the world.

** In the sequel, the ''Haunting of Hill House'' sequence is in black and white, the ''Nosferatu'' sequence is black-and-white ''and silent'' (complete with written dialogue-cards), and characters who are passing through the {{Kaiju}} setting [[Main/HongKongDub speak in Japanese, but have bad overdubbing in English.]]

* ArtShift: The first film's zombie sequence is in black and white, in homage to ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968''. In the sequel, the ''Haunting of Hill House''-setting is in black and white, the ''Nosferatu''-setting is black-and-white ''and silent'' (complete with written dialogue-cards), and characters who are passing through the {{Kaiju}} setting [[Main/HongKongDub speak in Japanese, but have bad overdubbing in English.]]

* ArtShift: The first film's zombie sequence is in black and white, in homage to ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968''. In the sequel, the haunted-house setting is in black and white, the ''Nosferatu''-setting is black-and-white ''and silent'' (complete with written dialogue-cards), and characters who are passing through the {{Kaiju}} setting speak Japanese.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:JackTheRipper is killed offscreen by [[{{Nosferatu}} Orlok]].]]

* KnightOfCerebus: The Marquis de Sade. His abuse of Sarah is most certainly [[DudeNotFunny ''not'']] PlayedForLaughs, nor are his threats to turn her over to the Prince of England so that she can be used "like the whore she [is]".

A sequel, ''Waxwork II: Lost in Time'', was released in 1992. It takes place immediately after the first film, with Sarah's father being murdered by a wax hand that escaped destruction hours before. Sarah's case for her innocence looks bad, thanks to no one believing her and Mark's claims about the wax museum. When they go to Mark's grandfather's mansion, they find a magic compass that allows them to travel through time. Believing it can be used to get evidence for the trial, the two of them start going through time and space while ending up in sci-fi and horror film parodies along the way.

* CleverCrows: Mark's grandfather appears as a raven to him in his times of need in the sequel.

* SuperWheelchair: One of TheCavalry has an armored one with a bulldozer-like front in the first movie's big battle scene. (It's an obvious very cheap cardboard shell around a normal motorized wheelchair, but that actually makes it funnier.)

** Mark thinks this rule is in effect in the sequel and gets clobbered in the face. Turns out he's not in the Kansas wax museum anymore.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Marquis de Sade, who is now one of the most evil men ever existed.

[[quoteright:346:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WaxworkDVD_3242.jpg]]

* ActorAllusion: [[{{Gremlins}} "What the hell am I gonna feed him at this hour?"]]

* TheDanza: Creator/DavidWarner as David Lincoln

TheOtherDarrin: Sarah is played by Deborah Foreman in ''Waxwork'' and Monika Schnarre in ''Waxwork II''. Particularly noticeable because ''Waxwork II'' replays some footage of the first movie's climax.

* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: Zombies are included in the exhibits of the first movie. Zombies appear again in the second movie in one of the alternate timelines reminiscient of ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''.

* ArtShift: The first film's zombie sequence is in black and white, in homage to ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead''. In the sequel, the haunted-house setting is in black and white, the ''Nosferatu''-setting is black-and-white ''and silent'' (complete with written dialogue-cards), and characters who are passing through the {{Kaiju}} setting speak Japanese.

* BigBad: David Lincoln in the first film.

* WholeCostumeReference: Although not necessarily matching any specific film, Mark's and Scarabis's outfits during their duel-across-dimensions always shift to suit their surroundings, and ''exactly'' conform to what a hero and a villain, respectively, would wear in the film genre that particular reality represents (e.g. white Travolta disco suit vs denim-clad biker in the '70s zombie mall, proper tuxedo vs seedy longcoat and eyepatch in JackTheRipper London, etc).

* ArtShift: The first film's zombie sequence is in black and white, in homage to ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead''. In the sequel, the haunted-house setting is in black and white, the ''Nosferatu''-setting is colorless ''and silent'', and characters who are passing through the {{Kaiju}} setting speak Japanese.

* ArtShift: The first film's zombie sequence is in black and white, in homage to ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead''.

* WholeCostumeReference: Although not necessarily matching any specific film, Mark's and Scarabis's outfits during their duel-across-dimensions always shift to suit their surroundings, and ''exactly'' conform to what a hero and a villain, respectively, would wear in the film genre that particular reality represents (e.g. white Travolta disco suit vs denim biker in the '70s zombie mall, proper tuxedo vs seedy longcoat and eyepatch in JackTheRipper London, etc).

* WholeCostumeReference: Although not necessarily a perfect match, Mark's and Scarabis's outfits during their duel-across-dimensions always shift to suit their surroundings, and ''exactly'' conform to what a hero and a villain, respectively, would wear in the film genre that particular reality represents (e.g. white Travolta disco suit vs denim biker in the '70s zombie mall, proper tuxedo vs seedy longcoat and eyepatch in JackTheRipper London, etc).

* FaceRevealingTurn: In the Dracula exhibit when China finishes staking the last of Dracula's brides to save her character's lover. However, because she knocked one of the girls onto him, when China pulls her off. The bride has finished draining the lover's blood and the previously helpeful lover bears his fangs and hisses at her.

* SuperWheelchair: One of TheCavalry has an armored one with a bulldozer-like front in the first movie's big battle scene. (It's an obvious very cheap cardboard prop, but that makes it funnier.)