Classic horror-
thriller, released in 1953. It was directed by
André De Toth and written by
Crane Wilbur, based on a story by
Charles Belden.
Cinematography was by
Bert Glennon and
J. Peverell Marley. It was a remake of a 1933 movie called "
Mystery of the Wax Museum." It was also the first
3-D movie released by one of the major studios (in this case,
Warner Brothers).
"House of Wax" starred
Vincent Price as Professor Henry Jarrod,
Phyllis Kirk as Sue Allen,
Carolyn Jones as Cathy Gray,
Paul Picerni as Scott Andrews,
Frank Lovejoy as Lt. Brennan,
Paul Cavanagh as Sidney Wallace,
Charles Bronson (using the name Charles Buchinsky) as Igor, and
Reggie Rymal as the barker.
Price plays Henry Jarrod, a
genius sculptor whose preferred medium is
wax figures. He operates out of a small
wax museum, disdains the
Chambers of Horrors which make most wax museums so popular, and cares very little for
profit, to his
greedy business partner's
dismay. The partner decides to
burn the museum down and collect the
insurance money, but the idea of destroying all his works of
art horrifies Jarrod, and a tremendous struggle erupts. But the partner is able to knock Jarrod out, start numerous
fires, and open the gas vents. In the resulting
explosion, Jarrod is thought killed. But of course, he's not dead. Horribly burned and no longer able to use his hands to
sculpt, Jarrod turns to
kidnapping,
murder, and
body-snatching as he and his
criminal companions use real
corpses to create the ultimate Chamber of Horrors.
Though this movie is normally considered a
horror movie, it's really more of a
crime thriller. There are a few good
shocks and
scares, and many of the scenes in the dark wax museum are
eerie and
frightening, but the emphasis is on
suspense,
conspiracies, and
detective work. Price's
obsessed, murderous
artist is, of course,
brilliantly played -- at turns
mincing and
menacing,
pitiful and
powerful. Bronson's performance as the
deaf-mute thug is more one-dimensional, but still
interesting to watch.
I've only seen this on video and DVD, so I don't know how worthwhile this may have been as
3-D entertainment. Frankly, I've caught very few moments that would've been interesting to render in 3-D -- a scene in a
burlesque house with
showgirls high-kicking at the camera, and another scene in which a
barker slaps a
paddleball toward the audience, joking about knocking over people's
popcorn. Part of this could be because De Toth, the director, was
blind in one eye -- any of the film's 3-D effects would have been lost on him.
All in all, I'd say it's worth a rental. The dated '50s filming techniques may lose some audience members, but for many, it can be a good, fun,
retro evening of
shocks and
shivers.
Some research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)