10 Terrifying Moments In Terrible Horror Movies

By the time 2005’s utterly unnecessary House of Wax remake hit theatres, it was already infamous solely for the decision to cast Simple Life reality TV star/ millionaire heiress Paris Hilton as one of its interchangeable teen victims. A sanitized slasher which lacked inventive kills or any of the original flick’s clever satirical wit, this forgettable dud was largely written off as useless save for its stunt casting—which is actually more true than its detractors gave it credit for.

Yes, the film is largely unwatchable and yes, the heiress is only in it for the mutually beneficial “Your film gets bad publicity for having a famously awful actor, I get bad publicity for being bad at acting, we all end up more famous” gambit. But the death scene which the flick puts poor Paris through is genuinely unexpectedly tense and terrifying, with its creepy cat and mouse calling to mind Alexandre Aja’s then-recent New French Extremity landmark Switchblade Romance.

The chase is one thing, but the unfortunate character’s gruesome demise, which sees her impaled through the skull before being skewered, is insanely gory for this otherwise unremarkable flick’s standards, and elevates the pedestrian slasher to being worth a watch for this scene alone.