House of Wax (1953) Review

House of Wax (1953) Review

 

When you hear “3D movie” today, the first thing you likely think of is Avatar: the movie responsible for ushering in a new age of Real-D 3D movies. We’re now living in the longest period of 3D resurgence, but it first gained popularity as a new format in the 1950s, then died off as just a silly gimmick, only to come back big in the 80’s, then die off again, then rise up again in the 2000s and fully take off at the end of the decade. House of Wax was one of those early 50’s 3D horror movies, and you might be thinking I’m accidentally reviewing an original movie in this Remake-a-Thon, but the 2005 version more commonly known today is actually a remake of the remake, with the true original being Mystery of the Wax Museum from 1933.

House of Wax begins with classic exaggerated 3-D lettering for the opening titles, then we meet the brilliant sculptor Henry Jarrod, who has crafted some truly impressive-looking wax statues of famous historical figures. His business partner wants to see Jarrod create wax works that will terrify audiences, but he isn’t into doing that, so what does the partner do? He beats Jarrod senseless and burns down the entire building! It’s actually quite a shock to watch all that real hard work melt away in seconds from the raging flames. It’s a thrilling way to get the story underway, but then it starts to morph into a horror-mystery, and maybe it’s just because I’ve seen too many movies in this genre or because it’s just a vintage example of one, but the “mystery” aspect is frustratingly obvious from the get-go.

A mysterious cloaked man with a mask starts killing people previously associated with Jarrod, and after a while Jarrod himself reappears, having survived the fire, but he is now in a wheelchair, with a new agenda: make a wax museum all about sensational horror. There are only two logical explanations: either this masked killer has been hired by Jarrod to exact his revenge, or Jarrod is just pretending to be in a wheelchair and is actually carrying out the revenge killings himself. You can take a guess as to which one it is long before the climactic reveal. Even though the reveal isn’t shocking, it’s still pretty creepy, and the way he makes his new wax figures is far more macabre than his previous techniques.

House of Wax is an old school horror remake in terms of updating the idea of a scary wax museum with (at the time) more modern filmmaking technology, but it doesn’t reinvent the storyline into something significantly better. Most of the third-dimension gimmicks occur in the second half after the short intermission, the most egregious of which is a guy hitting a paddle ball right at the screen, even going as far as to comment that a guy holding a bag of popcorn better watch out—obviously meant to be specific to theatre-goers, but in the context of the scene it makes enough sense (people are gathered around off camera watching the entertainer in the scene), so it plays like a fourth wall break that’s accidental even though it’s clearly on purpose.

The real reason to watch this movie is for Vincent Price. This was the film that established him as a go-to for horror films to come. He became a defining face of the genre for the rest of the 50’s and the 60’s, able to play both sinister villains and sympathetic protagonists. I knew him from such schlocky spookers as House on Haunted Hill and The Last Man on Earth when I was a kid, and what’s funny is those films were all shot in black-and-white, despite all coming out later, so seeing him in full colour in the lavish House of Wax production feels like seeing something that should have come later, but the opposite is true. The rest of the cast is fine, but not noteworthy in the way Price is as Jarrod.

House of Wax is a gimmicky horror remake, but thanks to Price in the lead and the genuine quality of the wax figures and overall production design, gimmicky in this case isn’t a negative thing. It’s fun enough if you enjoy this era of horror, and essential if you’re a Vincent Price fan.