13 Nights of Shocktober: House of Wax (1953)

by A.J.

Night 11: Vincent Price Night

“To you they are wax, but to me, their creator, they live and breath”

House of Wax (1953)

Here’s a Vincent Price classic for your Shocktober viewing: the horror remake House of Wax, not the 2005 remake, but the 1953 version which was a remake of the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum, itself a horror classic. House of Wax (1953) is significant for two reasons: 1) Though it was not Vincent Price’s first appearance in a horror movie—he had previously voiced the Invisible Man in some of the Universal Studios sequels—it marked the significant shift in his career to the horror genre and solidified his standing as a horror star; 2) Though it was not the first 3-D movie, it is one of the more significant and famous examples of the short lived 3-D fad of the 1950’s. This will explain the completely unnecessary scene of a carnival barker hitting a paddle ball at the camera, the close ups of high kicking can-can dancers, and why so many characters and objects fall towards the camera. This is also why the 88 minute movie has an intermission since the 3D would cause headaches if people watched for too long without a break. Of course the real reason House of Wax has endured and become a horror classic has everything to do with the movie’s willingness to have fun and the performance of Vincent Price.

The plot is little changed from Mystery of the Wax Museum, aside from removing a reporter character and moving the setting from contemporary times to the late 1890’s. Vincent Price plays Professor Henry Jerrod, a master wax sculptor who prefers recreating historical scenes and figures instead of the macabre but lucrative “chamber of horrors” exhibits. His business partner sets fire to the museum to collect insurance money and Jarrod is presumed dead in the fire. Years later the business partner is murdered by a mysterious figure dressed in black and Jarrod returns with a new wax museum, this time with a chamber of horrors and wax figures that seem just a bit too realistic. 

Not a lot makes sense in House of Wax, but it is fun nonetheless so it’s easy to overlook the plot holes. Jarrod is in a wheelchair and his hands are disfigured and useless, so he has his henchmen–one of whom is a young Charles Buchinsky, later to be Charles Bronson–presumably following his verbal instructions, but he is plenty capable of working the giant wax vat at the end of the movie. The reveal of a character wearing a wax mask is a great horror moment, but the implied realism of the mask is a bit of a stretch.

Vincent Price’s role has all the hallmarks that would become part of his horror movie persona. He begins as a sympathetic character; then he is wronged, driven mad, and becomes a villain sometimes bent on revenge, sometimes bent on mayhem, sometimes both. Still, he is so charismatic you almost want him to succeed (except for when he played the real-life monster Mathew Hopkins who executed hundreds of people during one of England’s witch panics in Witchfinder General). As Price wheels his way through the wax museum leading a tour he is utterly delightful in his wry delivery of gallows humor and bad puns. When he is in disguise, Price does a great job sneaking around (he really knows how to twirl a cape). Not only is he great as a mad villain but he is also believable in the scenes where Jarrod talks about his love of art and sculpting.

The highlights are the epic fight between Price and his business partner as the original wax museum burns down around them. The other is the climax which has Jarrod’s intended victim strapped to a table under a giant vat of boiling wax as the police race to find her. The secret workroom resembles a classic mad scientist's lab. The 3-D gimmick scenes, even without the actual 3-D effect, stick out like sore thumbs but still contribute to the overall entertainment value. This is not exactly a campy movie, even with its dated effects and acting styles. It is less concerned with creating chilling scares than making sure you have a horror-themed fun time. It worked then and it works now. 

House of Wax airs on TCM on Halloween at 9AM CT and is available to stream on HBOmax.