RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / House of Wax
House of Wax

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

House of Wax (1953)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
94 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 31

Fresh: 29

Rotten:2

Average Rating: 7.2/10

Consensus: House of Wax is a 3-D horror delight that combines the atmospheric eerieness of the wax museum with the always chilling presence of Vincent Price.

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: André de Toth's remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is one of the first and best 3-D (stereoscopic) feature films, an alternative technology (like Cinemascope, Cinerama) used by 1950s directors... André de Toth's remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is one of the first and best 3-D (stereoscopic) feature films, an alternative technology (like Cinemascope, Cinerama) used by 1950s directors attempting to compete with the new threat of television. Professor Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a devoted wax figure sculptor for his museum in 1910s NYC. When his financial partner, Sidney Wallace (Paul Cavanagh), demands more sensational exhibits to increase profits, Jarrod refuses. The vengeful Wallace torches the museum, leaving Jarrod for dead. Miraculously, Jarrod survives (though his hands and legs are rendered useless) and builds a new House of Wax with help from threatening deaf-mute sculptor, Igor (Charles Bronson). The museum's popular "Chamber of Horrors" showcases recent crimes like the murder of Wallace, a victim of a cloaked, disfigured killer along with his fiancée, Cathy (Carolyn Jones). When Cathy's friend, Sue (Phyllis Kirk), visits the museum she makes a discovery that leads to the horrifying truth behind the House of Wax. With gasp inducing (and tongue-in-cheek) 3-D scenes like the museum fire, paddleball man, and can-can girls, de Toth creates an atmospheric film which stands up as a horror classic in 2-D as well. [More]

Starring: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones

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

Director: Andre De Toth

Director: Andre De Toth
Screenwriter: Crane Wilbur, Charles S. Belden
Producer: Bryan Foy
Composer: David Buttolph

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Aug 5, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for House of Wax

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Oh-so-delightfully creepy.

comment Comment
11/23/08
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Casting is competent, Vincent Price is capital as the No. 1 menace.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/07/08
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An extremely effective "unmasking" scene at the climax ... stands as one of the great shock moments in horror cinema.

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
07/23/08
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter

House of Wax was stunningly directed by Andre de Toth who used the new 3-D process to its fullest potential without bogging down the narrative with too many 'gee-look-what-I-can-do' tricks.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/24/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The effects are done with playfulness, zest, and some imagination (they range from a barker batting paddleballs in your face to a murderer leaping from the row in front of you), making this the most entertaining of the gimmick 3-Ds.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/24/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A film in which just about every technical and dramatic gambit has been judged to near perfection.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/24/07
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine

No review available.

comment Comment
08/17/06
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Dimly we foresee movie audiences embalmed in three-dimensional wax and sound.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
03/25/06
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

De Toth brings off one classic sequence with Kirk fleeing through the gaslit streets pursued by a shadowy figure in a billowing cloak.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Tom Milne
Time Out

Price brings a touch of creepy class to this otherwise middling B-level horror story.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
06/25/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

No review available.

comment Comment
06/22/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Vincent Price is truly creepy, hammy and eerie in this role.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
05/24/05
Staci Layne Wilson
About.com

House of Wax is not particularly scary or suspenseful, but it is a lot of fun and effectively creates an atmosphere of dread using bright colors and shadows.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/16/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
03/26/05
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

No review available.

comment Comment
03/08/05
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Arguably the best of all 3-D movies.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/20/05
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/04
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Despite Price's presence this is little more than a footnote in American horror cinema.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/16/04
Jamie Russell
Channel 4 Film

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca

No review available.

comment Comment
11/07/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See More Topics...

Related Forums for House of Wax

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
79%
79%
Gran Torino
30%
30%
12 Rounds
23%
23%
Confessions of a Shopa…
—
The Code
39%
39%
Inkheart

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
22%
22%
Push
12%
12%
The Unborn

More New Releases…

RT On Current TV

What’s Hot On RT

5 Favorite Films

5 Favorite Films

Director Kathryn Bigelow on Hurt Locker, more

Revisiting Hogwarts

Revisiting Hogwarts

Day 2: The Chamber of Secrets

Humpday Clip

Humpday Clip

An exclusive peek at the indie comedy!

RT on Current TV!

RT on Current TV!

Check out the RT Show this Thursday!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Warners Shortens Green Lantern Wishlist Source: Hollywood Reporter
0
  • Harold Ramis Talks Ghostbusters 3 Source: MakingOf.com
0
  • Spider-Man 4 Gets Its Third Writer Source: Latino Review
52
  • Warners Wins Favorable Ruling in Superman Case Source: Variety
16
  • Remo Williams Rides Again Source: Risky Biz
10
  • Mortal Kombat 3 Filming in September? Source: Slashfilm
82
  • MacGruber Gets a Director Source: Variety
39
  • PG-13 Turns 25 Source: VideoETA
8
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
92
  • Brandon Routh Talks Superman's Future Source: Moviehole
98
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
66
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
59
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
46
  • Five Favorite Films with Kathryn Bigelow
39
  • Critics Consensus: Bruno is Certified Fresh
29
  • RT on DVD: Knowing, Push, The Unborn Unleashed
26
  • Total Recall: Mock Docs That Rock
26
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
24
  • Five Favourite Films with Jaime Winstone
18
  • Watch RT on Current TV
6
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
0
  • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
10
  • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
2
  • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
5
  • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
10
  • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
24
  • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
5
  • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
11
  • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
7
  • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
7
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • House of Wax at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno External Link

MSN's David Fear and Frank Paiva go head to head discussing the pros and cons of Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen.

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

The AV Club's Scott Tobias takes a second look at David Lynch's cult classic, Lost Highway.

Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles
Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles External Link

TIME takes us on a 25-year long journey into the superstar's career, giving us a look at his 10 best roles.

A Baywatch Comedy?
A Baywatch Comedy? External Link

BuzzSugar reports on Paramount's plans to rebirth the iconic TV show as a comedy film.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.