House of Wax (1953)

Directed by Andre DeToth. Starring Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Frank Lovejoy, Paul Picerni, Paul Cavanagh, Carolyn Jones, Nedrick Young, Dabbs Greer, Charles Bronson, Angela Clarke.

Obvious melodrama with Price as a sinister sculptor whose creations for a wax museum are startlingly lifelike, and even for viewers unfamiliar with the picture that inspired this remake (1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum), it doesn’t require much effort to figure out exactly what’s going on. Only requisite volumes of atmosphere and style are employed, and the direction and pace have a tendency to turn static in between the horror/suspense episodes (of which there aren’t very many). At least the final reel is pretty good of its type, and Price resuscitated his career with a portrayal that would quickly turn him into arguably the genre’s biggest star for the next decade or so. One of the earliest 3-D feature films (the very first in color), with a handful of distracting shots that exist only for gimmickry purposes. Very loosely remade again as something closer to a slasher flick in 2005.

50/100