So much average

Excellent but underrated film

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I never did get to see this awesome classic horror film in 3-D, but I bet it was something to see. This is one horror film I highly recommend, with classic actors; and a great story line you can't fail.The movie begins with Professor Jerrod in his workshop, working on a wax sculpture, he has invited Sidney Wallace( Paul Cavanaugh) to see his work. The time period is in the early 1900's, when Wax museums were very big. When Wallace arrives he is surprised by his work and wonders why he doesn't have a Wax Of Horror's? Jerrod says it his not his type of work, and continues with his new piece. In about 1/2 hour Jerrod's partner Matthew ( Ray Roberts) arrives. He is a stock broker that wants to make a deal with Jerrod. He asks him if he wants to split 25, 000 dollars. He feels he is losing money in the Wax Museum, and want to collect the insurance on the place. Jerrod freaks by the idea of arson, but Matthew strikes a match, and sets fire to the place.Matthew several months later is seen at a festival with his new girlfriend, Cathy( Carloyn Jones). Matthews has received the insurance money and he and Cathy plan to get married. They plan everything from when to where they will go afterwords. He tells her he has to go back to the office but he will see her later. When he returns to his office to get the money he is unaware Jerrod has survived the fire and his there for revenge. Jerrod strangles him, and makes it look like a suicide. Cathy lives with a roommate Sue( Phyllis Kirk) who is down on her luck trying to find a job. Tonight while helping Cathy get ready, she has a interview as a hatcheck clerk. They both live in this boarding house that is run, by a Mrs. Flanagan( Riza Royce). She is tough and believe in giving no one breaks on late rent. Sue returns, but doesn't get the job. She tries to avoid her landlady, but no dice. She catches her and tells Sue get the rent now, Cathy is there and she wants the rent. Sue opens the door and finds Cathy murdered, and a strange looking man in the room. Sue freaks , and runs to Scott Andrew(Paul Picerni) and his mother's place Mrs. Andrews( Angela Clarke's) house. Paul is also a sculpture and she tells him what happened. The three of them go to the police, and talk with Det. Lt. Tom Brennan( Frank Lovejoy) and Sgt. Jim Shane( Dabbs Greer). The officers inform Cathy and the Andrews that several bodies have be stolen from the morgue.Since his accident Professor Jerrod has decided to open up a new wax museum, with a chamber of horrors. He has hired 2 pupils to help him, Leon(Nedrick Young) and ex-con; and a deaf mute, Igor( Charles Bronson). Jerrod is now bent on vengeance and murder. Since the accident he is unhinged and doesn't care about anything except revenge on anybody. Instead of working with wax he steals bodies from the morgue, and forms a wax base over them.One day Sue and Scott visit the wax museum. There Sue notices something odd about the Joan of Arc piece. The wax figure seems to look so muck like her roommate to a T. When Professor Jerrod notices her examining the figure he approaches her. He tells her that he saw pictures of Cathy after her murder, and that's where his vision of Joan of Arc came from. He tells him his work is is passion and every detail has to be perfect. Sue and Scott think nothing off it at first. Then Jerrod becomes obsessed with Sue. He wants to make a figure of Marie Antoinette from her. Sue then starts to become suspicious of him. That night Jerrod breaks into her room, but fails.The police go back to the museum , and realize some of the wax figures resembles some of the people that have been stolen. They then become very curious of the figures and one day find out Leon is an ex-con. They bring him in for questioning. Leon finally breaks, and tells them about how Jerrod does his figures. He explains everything and the police realize they have to act quickly before someone else becomes a victim.When Sue goes to met Scott at the museum, he isn't there. She looks at the Joan of Arc figue again and discovers the truth. Just when she is leaving Jerrod finds her along with with Igor. She is captured and put into a box, where she is about to become a wax figure, a Marie Antoinette figure to be exact. When Scott doesn't her from her he returns to the museum, there Igor is waiting for him. He realizes he has to fight off Igor to save Sue. Igor gets the upper hand and captures Scott and puts him in a guillotine. The police arrive in five minutes release Scott from the guillotine and stop Jerrod from his madness.This film is great, I recommend it to anyone especially horror fans. You will be glued to this gem from beginning to end.

Unlike so many other horror films of the period, HOUSE OF WAX spares no time in cutting to the action. Ten minutes into the film and you have a terrific fight in a burning building, which traditionally doesn't happen till the end of a film like this. The speedy pace of the film is just one of the many, many factors in its favour, and works so that it is never boring.HOUSE OF WAX is essentially a remake of the 1933 classic, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, given a fresh breath of life by the advent of the 3D craze of the early '50s, enlivened by films such as CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. And indeed, there are many moments in the film where the 3D process works wonderfully; in fight scenes, things fly towards the screen, and the standout moment comes when a man playing some balls-on-elastic game knocks them repeatedly towards the camera, which must have been quite startling to an audience at that time.Along with the camera trickery, HOUSE OF WAX boasts an impressive performance from a youngish Vincent Price, in a role which helped to make his name synonymous with the horror genre. He would appear in countless flicks later on in the '50s, like THE FLY, THE TINGLER, and THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. He's perfectly cast as the silky-voiced proprietor of the wax museum, caring for his creations as if they were alive, but becoming a scarred maniac after a fire destroys them all (and there is a certain element of sympathy to be had with Price too; after all, he's been hideously crippled in a fire and his life's work has been destroyed - how would you react?).Price is supported by a fleshed out, capable cast of screaming heroines and butch heroes, the usual bunch you expect from these sort of films. Down in the cast list is also a young Charles Buchinsky, better known these days as Charles Bronson, who went on to star in loads of crime thrillers in the '70s like DEATH WISH. HOUSE OF WAX seems strangely old-fashioned when placed with other atomic monsters and sci-fi flicks which filled cinemas at the time, from INVADERS FROM MARS to WAR OF THE WORLDS and more. The genteel type of horror - crimes are hinted at but never shown explicitly - gives the film a certain kind of charm, and you can't help but think that those who die deserved it anyway (especially the incredibly annoying blonde haired woman who later starred as Morticia in THE ADDAMS FAMILY!).However, the lavish sets and costumes, good special effects (Price's makeup is certainly memorable), melodramatic music, and exciting fight scenes which literally burst to life on screen, helped in no small measure by the 3D process, make the film a very enjoyable watch. Two classic horror images also come from the film - a scarred Price hunting the streets in his fedora and cape; and the scenes showing wax models slowly melting, their eyes popping out and heads dropping. HOUSE OF WAX is definitely a minor classic of the genre, and a lot of fun for nostalgia buffs and Price fans alike.

I had a brief 'huh?' moment when that carnival barker (Reggie Rymal) showed up for the opening of the House of Wax Museum. It was only after I read a few of the reviews here that I learned this was originally a 3D film and those paddle ball blasts would have been a real highlight for movie goers of the era. Otherwise the guy's appearance was almost as out of place as that 'Intermission' sequence that might have lasted about ten seconds, requiring one to actually hit the pause button to get a cup of coffee.It's been a while since I've seen Lionel Atwill in the 1933 version of this film, "Mystery of the Wax Museum". Both share a similar story line and choosing the better of the two is probably a matter of personal preference. I like both Atwill and Vincent Price so for me it's a toss up. However Price's first appearance in the picture as the figure in black was almost comical to me, limping along like some deranged Zorro. He even had two accomplices dressed exactly the same way when he stole the body of Cathy Gray (Carolyn Jones) from the city morgue.I guess it's no big thing, but if you're paying attention you probably question as I did how the crippled Jarrod wasn't able to stay in character with his disability as time went on. When he made Matthew Burke his first victim and went chasing Sue Allen (Phyllis Kirk) through the city streets at night he was hobbling along with his deformed foot at an awkward angle, but by the time he's fighting off the cops at the finale, he's running up stairs with the agility of an athlete.The biggest surprise for me in this picture was seeing Charles Bronson show up as Henry Jarrod's (Price) assistant at the wax museum. He was still using his real name Buchinsky at the time but depending on the movie or TV credit, it was spelled differently, making me wonder if that was intended or just a matter of getting his name spelled wrong by film makers. Some of his credits even list him as 'Chas' as his name showed up in the credits for a Roy Rogers TV episode back in the Fifties.Well aside from all that, Vincent Price fans ought to have a pretty good time with this one. This was the film that launched his eventual status as a horror film icon, making me an instant fan as a kid with the likes of "The Fly" and "House on Haunted Hill" in the late Fifties. He had that great voice and terrific presence as an actor, ranking him right up there with the other greats like Karloff and Chaney.

The 1953 version, unlike the 1933 version starring Glenda Farrell, is set in Victorian times. With the motion picture code in full force, you have nothing to lose by taking the story out of modern times. Again, the catalyst of the plot is an artist's greedy partner deciding to set fire to the wax museum that has become a real money loser and collect the insurance money. The artist (Vincent Price) wrestles with partner as he goes around setting fire to the place and ultimately is knocked unconscious, presumed dead by the greedy partner. He'd be wrong about that. I'm not spoiling anything here for you because this is revealed early on in the film.Here the protagonists in the film are an apprentice sculptor and his girlfriend. From the beginning they suspect something fishy is going on when the wax figure of Joan of Arc seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to our heroine's murdered roommate, played by Carolyn Jones, who was last seen saying she was going out with a wealthy debonair man she had just met, and then she just disappeared. Also, this version uses a gimmick that was popular with audiences of the 1950's - 3D. It was the two-strip technicolor of its day.The main attraction in this film is the charismatic Vincent Price. In the 40's he played a series of supporting roles in some noirish Fox films, and here he is just getting started in the horror genre. He breathes real life and brings range to the role of the mad murderous sculptor that Lionel Atwill didn't seem capable of delivering in the earlier version. Also, I like the fact that in this later version we actually get to see Price confront the former partner who left him to perish in his burning museum.