The Stalking Moon
  • The Stalking Moon
  • Cracked Leather Armchair
  • The Small Screen
  • About Me
    • Cool things About Japan
    • Travel Recollections
    • Contact me

House of Wax (1953)

10/14/2012

 
Picture
Picture

The movie that set star Vincent Price's career on a course with horror movie destiny, House of Wax was Warner Brothers' first 3D film and proved a massive success for the studio. Director Andre de Toth gives this modestly-budgeted period piece a lavish, colorful look, and it moves along at a nice clip, yet I couldn't help feeling just a little disappointed with the film.

Price plays Prof. Henry Jarrod, a gentle if eccentric sculptor of taste and genius who runs a small and unsuccessful wax museum. His partner and investor, Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) wants to get his hands on the $25,000 insurance money on the building and so callously sets fire to Jarrod's painstakingly-crafted exhibits. The two men struggle, and Burke leaves Jarrod to a fiery fate. Of course, Jarrod survives to plot his revenge, albeit now a disfigured wretch of a man, driven to madness by the loss of his precious life works.


Picture
Phyllis Kirk, soon to play Nora Charles in THE THIN MAN TV series.
The murderous Burke has little time to enjoy his spoils, as Jarrod, clad in black cloak and slouch hat, sneaks into his office, strangles him, and arranges his body to drop down the elevator shaft in a semblance of suicide.

Next, he targets Burke's mistress, social climber Sally Gray (Carolyn Jones). Sally's friend, down-on-her-luck Sue Allen (Phyllis Kirk), comes upon Sally's dead body just in time to witness Jarrod's monstrous appearance, and is pursued by him through the fog-lined New York streets, until she reaches the safety of the family home of her beau, young sculptor Scott Andrews (Paul Picerni).

With the financial backing of kindly art critic Sidney Wallace (Paul Cavanaugh), a seemingly normal - if wheelchair-bound - Jarrod opens a new, grislier and sensationalistic gallery. His badly burned hands no longer capable of doing fine sculpting work, Jarrod is assisted by mute, hulking henchman Igor (Charles Bronson, in unconvincing pancake make-up) and an alcoholic ex-con in creating new figures for a series of tableau reenacting famous crimes and scenes of torture and death, which make the new House of Wax a notorious and immediate success. Only sensitive Sue, gazing upon a figure of Joan of Arc which bears a striking resemblance to her dead friend Sally, suspects the truth - that Jarrod is using actual corpses to imbue his new wax figures with their uncanny life. Unfortunately for Sue, Jarrod sets his sights on turning her into his newest wax masterpiece, Marie Antoinette.

Picture
Picture

This remake of the 1933 Mystery of the Wax Museum is an enjoyable potboiler, buoyed by a fine, reigned-in performance by Price, as well as a pleasing depiction of turn-of-the-century New York, replete with gas lamps and carriages clattering down cobblestone streets. Aside from Kirk, who makes for a lovely and sympathetic heroine, the other cast standouts are Frank Lovejoy Jr. and Dabbs Greer as detectives who prove far more able than those in the later Dr. Phibes films. The impossibly wasp-waisted Carolyn Jones (Morticia in The Addams Family) has a few brief scenes as the ill-fated Sally. Poor Chuck Bronson looks uncomfortable but mugs gamely as Igor.

Picture
The movie basically belongs to Price and he carries it through to its moderately suspenseful climax, but the story overall seems too simple and rather truncated, like certain important story beats were left out.

I suppose my main problem is the almost casual, throwaway dispatch of the villainous Burke. I expected at least a bit of delicious, Grand Guignol-style mayhem as Price goes on his revenge spree, but he merely garrotes his enemy in seconds, without even a single moment of threatening conversation or time taken to revel in Burke's comeuppance. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the elaborate deaths featured in the Phibes films and Theater of Blood, but I can't help feeling that Jarrod's lack of panache in taking out his victims robs House of Wax of a good deal of potential power.

And while it's a nice visual conceit, the idea of the disfigured Jarrod being able to maintain his smooth public facade under a wax mask of his original, aristocratic face is pretty ludicrous. Jarrod's murder of Sally also seems to lack proper motivation. We can assume that the new, older gentleman friend she goes to meet is indeed Jarrod, though this is only hinted at and not spelled out in any way, nor his reason for wishing her dead given its proper due. Still, we fans of fantastic cinema are used to overlooking these sorts of plot inconsistencies, and in the end they didn't really bother me much.


House of Wax is a fun, old-fashioned horror story told with a certain flair and skill. In light of the recent release to 3D Blu-Ray of contemporary classics Creature from the Black Lagoon and Dial M for Murder, here's hoping this stately chiller gets a similar treatment sometime soon.

Picture
Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) link
10/13/2012 10:02:44 pm

Nice write-up Jeff - personally I much prefer the Michael curtiz original though the one time I did see the remake in the cinema was in 3-D and the effects very often highly impressive - the audience whooped at the ball-and-bat sequence before the intermission (necessary the re-load the two synched projectors) and some of the really clever shots like Bronson's character suddenly emerging into view from beneath the camera really made everyone jump!

Jeff
10/15/2012 04:18:18 pm

Thanks, Sergio! The original MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM was on the B-side of the DVD I viewed, but I didn't have the chance to watch it. I did give it a cursory look and it does appear ibnteresting, so will try to get to it later. You're right about the famous paddleball scenes, they are impressive enough in 2D, I can only imagine their effect in 3D.

R.A. Kerr link
10/14/2012 07:39:04 am

I really hope this will be given the modern 3D treatment. Vincent Price is terrific in this movie. He was the perfect casting choice.

Also, what a fantastic movie poster! Who would NOT go watch this movie after seeing that great poster?

Jeff
10/15/2012 04:16:08 pm

Hiya, Ruth! Yes, isn't that a terrific poster? They really knew how to lure 'em in back in the day (pity that most of the time, the movies never lived up to the garish promises of theie poster art...) And you're right, Vincent Price pretty much is the whole enchilada here.

Jim Taylor
10/18/2012 02:58:01 am

The first time I tried to watch "House Of Wax", I was unable to get past its opening fire scene but the movie haunted me & months later when it was shown again, I managed to watch the whole movie. Oddly enough, the first version I saw was a censored version where Price's disfigured face looked like it was covered with a black hood up until the final unmasking. This was a case where censorship improved the scares. When Phyllis Kirk finally unmasked Price, I nearly jumped out of my seat! For years I wondered why Price's unmasking wasn't considered in the same league as "The Phantom Of The Opera", then I finally saw the 3-D version at a theatre & found out Price's disfigurement had been shown from the very beginning ! Definitely a case of censorship improving the scares.

Jeff
10/18/2012 07:43:59 am

Very interesting story, Jim - thanks! I hadn't heard that before re: Price's disfigurement make-up being kept hidden until the final reveal. I think you're right, that would have added to the surprise and shock of that final sequence greatly, as well as adding an air of mystery to the film, if the filmmakers had held off on showing it. As it is, his face is shown right away, in a rather perfunctory manner. Also, there's something about the make-up itself, perhaps the twist in the lip and the sad eyes, that makes me feel more pity than horror.


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Videophilia!

    Opinionated ramblings about new and old  movies (mostly old, as that's the way I like 'em!)

    Picture

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Blogs of Note

    Stuart Galbraith IV's World Cinema Paradise

    Movie Morlocks (TCM's Classic Movie Blog)

    50 Westerns from the 50s

    Riding the High Country

    Sweet Freedom

    Tipping My Fedora

    Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

    Silver Screenings


    Laura's Miscellaneous Musings

    Classic TV and Film Cafe

    Just a Cineast

    She Blogged By Night


    Chess, Comics, Crosswords, Books, Music, Cinema

    Out of the Past -
    A Classic Film Blog


    Pretty Sinister Books

    They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

    In So Many Words...

    Greenbriar Picture Shows

    Flix Chatter

    My Love of Old Hollywood

    Tales of the Easily Distracted

    Another Old Movie Blog

    Lasso the Movies

    Kevin's Movie Corner

    Films From Beyond the Time Barrier

    Carole & Co.

    Rupert Pupkin Speaks

    Caftan Woman

    Vienna's Classic Hollywood

    The Lady Eve's Reel Life

    ClassicBecky's Brain Food

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Hey! 
    Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed below, to be informed of new postings!

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    10 Best
    1960s Sci-Fi
    1970s Sci-Fi
    20 Million Miles To Earth
    50 Years Of James Bond
    70s Crime Films
    7 Faces Of Dr. Lao
    Abbott And Costello
    Abbott & Costello
    A Boy And His Dog
    Air Force
    Alan Ladd
    Alien
    A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
    Attack Of The Crab Monsters
    Bad Guys
    Basil Rathbone
    Beneath The 12-Mile Reef
    Bernard Herrmann
    Bite The Bullet
    Black Belt Jones
    Blade 2
    Blogathons
    Boris Karloff
    Brides Of Dracula
    British Empire In Film Blogathon
    Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter
    Carole Lombard
    Caroline Munro
    Cary Grant
    Cecil B. DeMille
    Charade
    Charles Bronson
    Charles Coburn
    Charlton Heston
    Christopher Lee
    Circus World
    Claudette Colbert
    Clint Eastwood
    Clint Walker
    Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
    Colossus: The Forbin Project
    Dark Of The Sun
    Dark Shadows
    Deadlier Than The Male
    Desk Set
    Dirty Harry
    Disaster Movies
    Dog Soldiers
    Donovan's Reef
    Dorothy Malone
    Douglas Sirk
    Dr. No
    Elmore Leonard
    Ernest Borgnine
    Fantastic Voyage
    Fast And Furious
    Fast And Loose
    Fast Company
    Four Frightened People
    From Russia With Love
    Garden Of Evil
    Gargoyles
    Gary Cooper
    George-montgomery
    Giant Of Marathon
    Gladiator
    Gordon Scott
    Gregory Peck
    Halloween
    Hammer Horror
    Hardboiled93338e779d
    Hard Times
    Has Anybody Seen My Gal
    Haywire
    Heat
    Henry Fonda
    Hold That Ghost
    Hombre
    Horror
    Horror Express
    Hot Potato
    House Of Wax
    Howard Hawks
    How The West Was Won
    I Love A Mystery
    Il Postino
    Isle Of The Dead
    It! The Terror From Beyond Space
    I Walked With A Zombie
    James Bond
    James Coburn
    James Stewart
    Jaws
    Jim Brown
    Jim Kelly
    John Carpenter
    John Cassavetes
    John Ford
    John Garfield
    John Wayne
    Katherine Hepburn
    Key Largo
    Kirk Douglas
    Lee Marvin
    Legend Of The Lost
    Lives Of A Bengal Lancer
    Love Before Breakfast
    Marilyn Monroe
    Memorable Movie Dads
    Mickey Spillane
    Mirage
    Monster On The Campus
    Musicals
    My Man Godfrey
    Mysterious Island
    My Top 25 Films
    Night Of The Grizzly
    Once Upon A Time In The West
    Only The Valiant
    Open Range
    Pandorum
    Paranoiac
    Paul Newman
    Peter Cushing
    Phase IV
    Phenomena
    Poltergeist
    Rampage
    Randolph Scott
    Raquel Welch
    Raw Meat
    Ray Harryhausen
    Ride Lonesome
    River Of No Return
    Robert Aldrich
    Robert Mitchum
    Robert Wagner
    Rock Hudson
    Rod Taylor
    Roy Scheider
    Sean Connery
    Shotgun
    Silent Running
    Sleepy Hollow
    Sophia Loren
    Soylent Green
    Spencer Tracy
    Starman
    Sterling Hayden
    Steve Mcqueen
    Steve Reeves
    Stewart Granger
    Tarzan The Magnificent
    The Abominable Dr. Phibes
    The Andromeda Strain
    The Awakening
    The Badlanders
    The Big Country
    The Birds
    The Black Scorpion
    The Black Swan
    The Blob
    The Body Snatcher
    The Cat And The Canary
    The Crawling Eye
    The Creature From The Black Lagoon
    The Dark Knight Rises
    The Devil Rides Out
    The Expendables 2
    The Face Of Fu Manchu
    The Falcon
    The Fearless Vampire Killers
    The Fog
    The Getaway
    The Ghost Breakers
    The Girl Hunters
    The Gorgon
    The Great Escape
    The Hole
    The Invisible Man
    The Last Of The Mohicans
    The Last Sunset
    The Late Show
    The Laughing Policeman
    The Leopard Man
    The Lone Gun
    The Long Goodbye
    The Man With The Golden Gun
    The Mark Of Zorro
    The Matrix
    The Mechanic
    The Monster That Challenged The World
    The Night Strangler
    The Omega Man
    The Outfit
    The Princess Comes Across
    The Shining
    The Shootist
    The Thing
    The Thing From Another World
    The Tingler
    The Uninvited
    The Wild Bunch
    The Wild North
    Thomas Mitchell
    Thunder Bay
    Tom Conway
    Tony Randall
    Trollhunter
    Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
    Two-Minute Warning
    Tyrone Power
    Underrated Detective/Mystery Movies
    Val Lewton
    Vincent Price
    Walter Matthau
    Went The Day Well?
    Westerns
    Westworld
    William Powell
    William Wyler
    Ww2
    Yvonne De Carlo

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • The Stalking Moon
  • Cracked Leather Armchair
  • The Small Screen
  • About Me
    • Cool things About Japan
    • Travel Recollections
    • Contact me