Certain uncharitable souls have been salivating with anticipation ahead of the release of this "re-imagining" of the 1953 classic.

They weren't really concerned with the contemporary spin put on the Vincent Price original. Nor was the state-of-the-art sfx upgrade of any real fascination.

No, the reason they couldn't wait to clap eyes on the brand, spanking new version was amateur porn queen Paris Hilton's gory screen murder in glorious technicolour.

If you belong to that select band you won't be disappointed... and you'll be pleased to sit through a pretty decent example of the new horror genre as well.

Paris and her chesty chum Elisha Cuthbert plus an assortment of oiks, who would be refused entry to Bluewater shopping centre, chance upon a strange town.

The centrepiece is an art deco House of Wax, a mausoleum-style monstrosity containing eerie tableaux of wax figures eating and relaxing in a 1930s drawing room.

Elsewhere, the town - Ambrosia - appears eerily abandoned except for Brian Van Holt's obliging mechanic and the congregation of the local church.

Alarm bells should have started ringing when you clocked that Whatever Happened to Baby Jane was playing at the local fleapit.

But that particular opportunity to avoid the ensuing mayhem isn't taken by the kids desperate to party. More fool them.

Debut director Jaume Collet-Serra knows what levers to pull and what buttons to press to deliver a satisfying teenage schlock horror fest.

Paris's fate is brutally ingenious, the rest of the cast don't fare an awful lot better while the denouement doesn't disappoint with a beautifully designed finale.

Recent horror outings don't hold a candle to it.

Tim Evans

Click play on the window below to see our interview with Paris Hilton: