'WAX' MAY BE WORTH A CLOSER INSPECTION.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

MANY WILL CHOOSE to view the horror remake ``House of Wax'' as a bloodbath half empty.

Let me suggest looking at it the other way.

This latest update of a dubious old fright film from Joel Silver's Dark Castle Label lays on some pretty good gore, once it gets around to it (the first 45 minutes are, admittedly, Deadsville, and not in the good sense you could apply to a fright flick).

Expanding inventively enough on the 1953, 3-D production's concept, the new ``House'' also goes for more elaborate wax configurations than dead people coated in goo. This sets up one spectacular-looking, meltingly mucky climax that's as scary as it is well-designed.

And Paris Hilton gets it right between the eyes.

C'mon, could you ask for anything more?

Well, yeah. Real characters would help instead of the teen-cake mannequins director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps wasting time trying to imbue with personalities (yes, he's a commercials and music video guy). They're six Florida Gators fans who get turned around on Louisiana backroads while traveling to a football game in Baton Rouge.

Hunting for fan belts in the weirdly retro town of Ambrose, ambitious Carly (``24's'' Elisha Cuthbert) and her nosy boyfriend Wade (``Gilmore Girls' '' Jared Padalecki) discover an apparently shuttered wax museum and a prickly but somewhat helpful resident, Bo (Brian Van Holt). Creepy as Bo is, there's at least one guy in Ambrose who's a lot worse.

Meanwhile, at a camp at the edge of town, Hilton's Paige does a striptease for her boyfriend (Robert Ri'chard) and pays the slasher movie price. About the only hope for anyone's survival rests with Carly's resentful, bad-boy brother Nick (``One Tree Hill's'' Chad Michael Murray).

In fact, sibling issues run riot throughout ``House of Wax,'' which was written by twins Chad and Carey W. Hayes. Like every other attempt to make this more than just a horror movie, though, the fraternal nonsense doesn't really go anywhere.

Fright films that deliver the shocking goods with noticeable dashes of wit and style are so hard to find these days, even a flawed one such as ``House of Wax'' deserves to be given a chance. It makes less ambitious remakes such as ``The Amityville Horror'' look about as exciting as museum pieces.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

HOUSE OF WAX - Two and one half stars

(R: violence, sex, language, partial nudity, children in jeopardy)

Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki.

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra.

Running time: 1 hr. 47 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: After a slow start, this cleverly designed reimagining of the old Vincent Price horror staple gets good and gory.