House of Wax (1953) Review...

House of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price and directed by André de Toth. The House of Wax was an early example of the 3-D film craze of the early 1950s and the film was the first 3-D color feature from a major American studio. The story follows a 'Professor who is a devoted wax figure sculptor with a museum in 1910s New York. When his financial partner demands more sensational exhibits to increase profits, he refuses. In retaliation, his partner deliberately sets the museum on fire, intending to claim the insurance money, splashing kerosene over the sculptor's body and leaving him to die in the fire. Miraculously, he survives with severe injuries, and builds a new House of Wax with help from threatening deaf-mute sculptor, Igor. The museum's popular "Chamber of Horrors" showcases both notable crimes and more recent ones, including the murder of the sculptor's former business partner by a cloaked, disfigured killer. Sue Allen visits the museum, making a discovery that leads to the horrifying truth behind the House of Wax - that all of the waxworks are the wax-coated bodies of the sculptor's victims.'

With the waxworks of Madame tussauds an uncanny experience alone, the concept of the house of wax is an eerie thought on it's own. Even in the beginning of the film when we are first introduced to the house of wax, I found the waxworks to be extremely creepy, which was made more so when they melted in the fire. Despite this build up of eerie feeling and expectancy of the waxworks to come to life and terrorise the town, the actual evil was only human beings, which was extremely disappointing. I felt the storyline of the fire built up really well for a storyline where the waxworks come to life and plot their revenge. However, I was completely enticed by the film and found the storyline to be quite mysterious. It was funny having the scene with the bat and ball in their, clearly an attempt for the filmmakers to showcase their groundbreaking technology to its audience. Overall, House of Wax was an enjoyable film and still works today as a creepy and scary film, although i'm still convinced it should be about waxworks coming to life.