House of Wax (1953)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 33
Fresh: 31 | Rotten: 2
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.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1
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.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 40,591
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Movie Info
This simplified (but lavish) remake of the 1933 melodrama The Mystery of the Wax Museum was the most financially successful 3-D production of the 1950s. In his first full-fledged "horror" role, Vincent Price plays Prof. Henry Jarrod, the owner of a wax museum, whose partner, Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts), intends to burn the place down for the insurance money. When Jarrod tries to prevent Burke from torching the museum, he himself is trapped in the conflagration. Years pass: though now confined to
Apr 10, 1953 Wide
Aug 5, 2003
Warner Bros. Pictures
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Cast
-
Vincent Price
Prof. Henry Jarrod -
Frank Lovejoy
Lt. Tom Brennan -
Phyllis Kirk
Sue Allen -
Carolyn Jones
Cathy Gray -
Paul Picerni
Scott Andrews -
Charles Buchinsky
Igor -
Oliver Blake
Pompous Man -
Paul Cavanagh
Sidney Wallace -
Angela Clarke
Mrs. Andrews -
Frank Ferguson
Medical Examiner -
Dabbs Greer
Sgt. Jim Shane -
Mary Lou Holloway
Millie -
Jack Kenney
Lodger -
Lyle Latell
Waiter -
Jack Mower
Detective -
Eddie Parks
Morgue Attendant -
Grandon Rhodes
Surgeon -
Roy Roberts
Matthew Burke -
Riza Royce
Ma Flanagan -
Reggie Rymal
Barker -
Philip Tonge
Bruce Allison -
Ruth Warren
Scrubwoman -
Trude Wyler
Woman -
Ned Young
Leon Averill -
Richard Benjamin
Detective -
Leo Curley
Portly Man -
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All Critics (33) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (2) | DVD (11)
An intermittently gripping shocker.
Top CriticCasting is competent, Vincent Price is capital as the No. 1 menace.
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.
Dimly we foresee movie audiences embalmed in three-dimensional wax and sound.
De Toth brings off one classic sequence with Kirk fleeing through the gaslit streets pursued by a shadowy figure in a billowing cloak.
It's a heckuva lot of fun.
Oh-so-delightfully creepy.
An extremely effective "unmasking" scene at the climax ... stands as one of the great shock moments in horror cinema.
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.
A film in which just about every technical and dramatic gambit has been judged to near perfection.
Price brings a touch of creepy class to this otherwise middling B-level horror story.
Vincent Price is truly creepy, hammy and eerie in this role.
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.
Arguably the best of all 3-D movies.
Despite Price's presence this is little more than a footnote in American horror cinema.
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Foreign Titles
- House of Wax (1953) (UK)
- House of Wax (1953) (CA)
