House of Wax (1953)

HOUSE OF WAX

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1 (Natural Vision 3-Dimension)

Sound format: WarnerPhonic Sound

Though BWANA DEVIL (1952) was clearly responsible for kickstarting the 3-D boom of the 1950's, it's doubtful the fad would have survived for long had it not been for Andre de Toth's HOUSE OF WAX, ballyhooed by Warner Bros. as: "The BIG 3-D feature you've been waiting for!" The studio's confidence is borne out by the film itself, a sensational - and sensationalized - remake of Michael Curtiz's MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), in which sculptor and wax museum curator Vincent Price is driven insane after being disfigured in a fire set by his greedy business partner (Roy Roberts), eager to reap the benefits of a generous insurance policy. Using a wax mask to conceal his true appearance, Price makes short work of Roberts and reopens his museum in New York, where he steals fresh cadavers and uses them as the human framework for his gruesome exhibits, only to be rumbled by heroine Phyllis Kirk when her recently-murdered friend (Carolyn Jones) turns up as part of the Joan of Arc exhibit...

With its handsome period art direction - the movie is set in 1902 - and no-nonsense screenplay, this was clearly designed as one of Warner's major attractions for 1953, above and beyond the film's technical achievements. Today, the storyline may seem a little predictable, even for those unfamiliar with Curtiz's original, but the narrative unfolds at a rapid clip and contains more than a few hair-raising set-pieces, most notably the opening fire sequence (in which Price looms uncomfortably close to the raging inferno); the discovery of Roberts' corpse in an elevator shaft; Price's cloaked villain stealing a corpse from the morgue at midnight and pursuing Kirk through the fog-shrouded streets; and the climactic face-off around a vat of boiling wax. There's even a chorus of dancing girls (watch out for those legs!), along with a couple of ferocious fight scenes which - literally! - erupt from the screen! Price achieved lasting fame as a consequence of the film's box office success - he was quickly snared by Columbia for their own 3-D horror feature, THE MAD MAGICIAN (1954), sealing his fate as one of Hollywood's premier boogeymen - but except for the scenes in which he appears as a malformed ghoul, his performance is too restrained to be entirely effective, and the same could be said of virtually all the principal players. Only Jones (later TV's Morticia Addams) as Kirk's giggling, gold-digging best friend and Paul Cavanagh (THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE) as the unwitting patron of Price's latest venture make much of an impression, while Frank Lovejoy and Dabbs Greer are the hard-working cops whose suspicions lead to the villain's downfall. However, while the characters may be bland and unremarkable, the film succeeds by virtue of its spectacle, and recent festival screenings (to celebrate 50 years since the first 3-D boom) have been sold out on every occasion, reaffirming its enduring appeal as one of the finest movies of its kind.

Reviewers often claim the film is 'just as good' when screened flat, and while there's no denying the production's many virtues, the 3-D version is a REVELATION! Using the dual-camera Natural Vision format developed by Milton and Julian Gunzberg (first used in BWANA DEVIL the year before), cinematographers Bert Glennon and J. Peverell Marley use the process to emphasize depth in every sequen

Fmovies: A sculptor of wax figures for a museum is horrified when his partner proposes setting fire to the unpopular museum in order to collect the insurance money. As the wax figures melt amid the blaze, the two men have a fight. The sculptor is knocked out in the scuffle and left to "perish" among the flames. He resurfaces many years later for the launch of his own wax museum. The opening coincides with the sudden disappearance of some dead bodies from the city morgue. His assistant begins to suspect his boss of foul play, especially after the deranged wizard of wax begins eyeing his assistant's lovely girlfriend as a model for a waxed figure of His assistant begins to suspect his boss of foul play, especially after the deranged wizard of wax begins eyeing his assistant's lovely girlfriend's friend as a model for a waxed figure of Joan of Arc! Great movie! Excellent performance by Vincent Price, some effectively creepy scenes and a good plot make this a must-see! Also, see the updated remake; "Waxworks 1&2". Those are very similar to this film.

House of Wax is a decent film without the three-dimensional effects, but it is a complete riot when viewed in the original 3-D, especially when we get to see the emcee in front of the theater. Vincent Price is at his creepy best in this film about a man who opens up a wax museum that has a secret as to why the figures look so life-like. This was the second time I had seen it in its original format, and I enjoyed it just as much this time, including its over the top melodrama and unbelievably dated dialogue. Do not miss this film if you can find it showing at a classic movie house, because it is extremely entertaining to experience.

--Shelly

House of Wax fmovies. HOUSE OF WAX established Vincent Price as a horror film icon. He's never hammy here. He's best when describing gruesome details (like torture or murder) with a slight grin, as if he's building to a punchline. Crane Wilbur's screenplay has well researched details (regarding how wax sculpting works, the effects of chemical burns for example) improves on the 1933 original. Here Vincent Price plays Henry Jerrod, a wax sculptor whose first try at a wax museum meets the same infernal end as Atwill's museum in the first film. 12 years later, Jerrod opens a new museum. One of his intern sculptors dates a model, Sue (Phyllis Kirk) who is hounded by a mysterious man with a distorted face. In the original film version, made in 1933, Fay Wray plays a beautiful, but uninteresting damsel in distress. Phyllis Kirk fills Fay Wray's part here, and man, is she even more boring! But don't worry, you have plenty of Vincent to make this DVD worthwhile. It's easy to find in a bit part, young Charles Bronson (billed here as Charles Buchinsky) as one of Jerrod's s interns. HOUSE OF WAX's most famous element is that it was made in 3-D. This new gimmick, meant to lure television viewers back to the box office was novel, but it had it's kinks. (Warner Brothers improved the process a year later with the 3-D release of Hitchcock's DIAL M FOR MURDER, and yet another period horror film, PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE.) The most amusing 3-D moment in HOUSE OF WAX has almost nothing to do with the story. A carnival barker, (played with crowd-pleasing energy by Reggie Rymal) constantly whacks a paddle-ball outside the wax museum, while heralding the museum's opening night thrills. He faces the camera (meaning us) and says `You! With the popcorn. Hold still.' and he proceeds to repeatingly whack the ball at the camera. HOUSE OF WAX is a lot of fun, and was a big hit at the time. The DVD does not come with a 3-D Process, but it does come with coverage of HOUSE OF WAX's Hollywood Premier. It's attended by Bela Lugosi and friend, Jack Warner, and Ronald Reagan (See, even Presidents watch horror movies!)

Perhaps I've been lucky. I've only seen this film twice in the past 15 years, but both times were in 3D, the second time last night. The crowd just loved it, with a big round of applause at the end.

The paddle ball scene is a highlight, but the reprise of the paddle ball is even more hilarious. It's completely over the top, and helps to create the carnival atmosphere that makes the film so effective in a large group.

The really dramatic 3D effects in this film are played for laughs, and I think that's one of the keys to its overall success. Director André De Toth treats the gimmick as a gimmick, and doesn't try to get more out of it than that. Hitchcock, in "Dial M For Murder", tried to use the technology for dramatic effect, but that was a complete failure. The gimmick gets in the way of real drama. The attempted murder of Grace Kelly in "Dial M" is more shocking in 2D. In 3D, you're completely jolted out of your involvement in the scene when Grace's grasping hand comes lunging halfway out into the audience at you.

In "House of Wax", the effect found its real home, a melodramatic thriller, played by everyone with tongue firmly in cheek.

De Toth composes his shots really nicely, I think. There's some foregrounding of chandeliers and other props, but never too much. He mostly holds back on the effect until he can make the best use of it -- the paddle ball, the can-can dancer's round bottom, the bust of Charles Bronson at the end. There is one great 3D thrill, the shot where Bronson, playing Vincent Price's evil mute assistant, has to grapple with policeman Frank Lovejoy. Bronson appears to leap out of the audience and onto the screen; it's an unexpected moment, and a real treat.

I love Vincent Price, my all time favourite horror actor. 'House Of Wax' is an important movie in his career, because it was his first legitimate horror film, after thirty something pictures in a variety of genres. This really is where the Price persona fans know and love began. He made non-horror pictures after this, it was a few years later that he made 'The Fly' and the William Castle movies which made him a horror star, something cemented later in the 60s with Roger Corman's Poe movies. But you can see Vincent Price horror icon right here. He's terrific as Jarrod and he would draw upon this role for 'The Mad Magician', and later, the Phibes movies and 'Theatre Of Blood'. 'House Of Wax' is a remake of 'Mystery Of The Wax Museum' made twenty years earlier. In that one Lionel Atwill played the Price role (different name, but same character). Atwill was great but Price is even better, as is the movie overall. 'House Of Wax' sticks pretty much to the earlier movie, but with a few changes, most notably the absence of the girl reporter character that Fay Wray played in the original. In this, the policeman played by Frank Lovejoy ('In A Lonely Place') takes on a similar role. Phyllis Kirk is good as the female lead, better in my opinion than Glenda Farrell in the earlier picture. The supporting cast also includes Carolyn "Morticia Addams" Jones, and an early appearance by Charles Bronson, who plays a deaf mute named Igor. 'House Of Wax' was made specifically for 3D, so there's a few gimmicky shots, but that doesn't spoil the movie, which to me is a horror classic that every fan of the genre should see.