House of Wax (1953)

★ 6.9 1h 28m IMDb

Horror Crime

A sculptor opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures, but quickly runs into trouble when his business partner demands the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profits.

Where to Watch

Checking 300+ streaming services for this title. Check back soon.

Rent / Buy

No rental or purchase options available yet.

Cast

Vincent Price as Henry Jarrod Died 1993 · Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and performances in horror films. His career spanned other genres, including fi...

Frank Lovejoy as Tom Brennan Died 1962 · Bronx, New York, USA Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir The Hitch-Hiker and for s...

Phyllis Kirk as Sue Allen Died 2006 · Syracuse, New York, USA Phyllis Kirk was an American actress..

Carolyn Jones as Cathy Gray Died 1983 · Amarillo, Texas, USA Carolyn Jones (April 28, 1930 – August 3, 1983) was an American film and television actress. She began her career in the early 1950s and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress...

Paul Picerni as Scott Andrews Died 2011 · Corona, New York, USA As a child Paul Picerni had aspirations to become an attorney until he acted in an eighth-grade play and later learned that the school principal liked his performance and called him "a born actor". He...

Director André de Toth

Cast Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Paul Picerni, Roy Roberts, Angela Clarke, Paul Cavanagh, Dabbs Greer, Charles Bronson

John Chard 9/10 Jul 18, 2019

In any format it's a genre highlight.

Henry Jarrod is a very talented sculptor of wax figures for a museum. But as the museum starts to flounder, Jarrod's partner, Matthew Burke, insists on taking a new direction, a row ensues and Jarrod is knocked unconscious. Burke seizes the opportunity to torch the museum and get the insurance money, with Jarrod still in the premises. Thought long since dead, Jarrod resurfaces, apparently wheel chair bound and with horribly burned hands. Opening up a new museum, his new figures (made by his protégé under his instruction) look ever more lifelike than before, could he be responsible for some despicable crimes in the area?

This marvellous film is a remake of the 1933 chiller, The Mystery Of The Wax Museum, directed by Michael Curtiz. Here this film is taken on by Andre de Toth, originally filmed in 3-D with the then bonus addition of Warner Phonic Sound, it's a picture that thankfully holds up real well even in its basic flat format. The reason it does hold up well is because director de Toth didn't get carried away with the gimmick, it's used sparingly so the narrative never gets lost amongst any trickery, and thus House Of Wax's excellently creepy story comes to the fore.

Having the ever supreme Vincent Price as your leading man (Jarrod) will always help your horror genre picture, and here he two folds the performance brilliantly. At first his Jarrod is charming and carrying a grace about his dedication to his craft, but then, devilment takes control as Price pumps creepy ardour into Jarrod's fractured mind. Quite a turn from Price who most definitely suffered for his art during the shoot, forced to do his own stunts (the 3D process needs more than one camera), he was involved in an accident that set him on fire and almost saw him crushed!Then there was the long and often painful make up sessions to get the desired effects of a burns victim, layers of rubber strangling his skin to the point of passing out, oh yes Vincent earned his money on this one!

We even get one of the earliest credited performances from Charles Bronson (here under his real name of Buchinsky) as Jarrod's assistant Igor, whilst fans of The Addams Family TV series will no doubt enjoy the performance of future Mortica, Carolyn Jones. The film was a big success on its release, and hugely popular with critics, and it's not hard to see why, because today it still stands proud as one of the finest exponents of classic horror, both as a story and as a technical construction. 9/10