The finale manages to stick its landing with two different race against time action sequences happening at once. In addition to Price’s typically benevolent investment in a tragic character, there’s a lovely leading lady in Phyllis Kirk and even appearances from future Morticia Addams Carolyn Jones and a young Charles Bronson. At 88 minutes, there’s a lot of ground to cover but everything feels nice and lean, with no extra fatty sections that drag the action to a halt. What sets the one apart from the bunch is not only its well-executed 3-D effects but its care for storytelling and characterizations. Then again, underneath the costumes and adornments don’t those faces look sort of…familiar? Figuring out what’s really going on and who is truly behind it all is just part of the fun to be had here. Too bad not everyone that wronged him is around to see the fantastic displays of recognizable faces from history. All of Jarrod’s pieces are lost and though he’s severely disfigured, Jarrod survives and begins a plan of mysterious revenge.įor the remainder of the film, we watch as Jarrod emerges from the ashes with a brand new wax museum that becomes a hot ticket in town. Though he’s looking to buy-out his ne’er-do-well business partner so he can make the masterpieces he wants, the partner has a quicker plan in mind and burns down the museum for the insurance money. The prologue of the film takes place in a wax museum curated by Professor Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price), a man possessing an eerie ability to construct life-like historical figures in wax.
#Phyllis kirk house of wax movie
Not only does this make excellent use of the 3-D effects, it’s a way above average movie on the whole. Before things got too bloody and gross, it didn’t take much for audiences to shriek in terror…now add in the new-fangled technology and the frights truly leaped off the screen. We’re a bit too used to an enhanced movie-going experience now, but try to put yourself in the place of audience members back in 1953 when this horror classic was released. It was the first color 3-D feature from an American production company and the first 3-D film presented in a theater boasting the multi-dimensional stereophonic sound. Review: There are a lot of firsts that House of Wax can lay claim to. Stars: Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Frank Lovejoy, Charles Bronson, Paul Cavanagh Ironically, Andre De Toth, the film's director, had only one good eye, and had to constantly ask his cast and crew if the various 3-D effects had come off properly.Synopsis: An associate burns down a wax museum with the owner inside, but he survives only to become vengeful and murderous. No opportunity to show off the 3-D process is wasted during House of Wax the most memorable stereoscopic moments are provided by garrulous "paddle-ball man" Reggie Rymal. Guess where this is going to wind up? Frank Lovejoy and Paul Picerni co-star as the nominal heroes, while Charles Bronson - still billed as Charles Buchinsky - is a menacing presence as Jarrod's deaf-mute chief sculptor appropriately named "Igor".
On a visit to the wax museum, Sue can't help but notice that the wax likeness of Joan of Arc is a dead ringer for her deceased friend Cathy - while the courtly Jarrod declares joyously that Sue is the living image of Marie Antoinette. One of the victims is Jarrod's old nemesis Burke another is Cathy Gray Carolyn Jones, the roommate of art student Sue Allen Phyllis Kirk. At the same time, a masked prowler has been stalking the city, murdering people and then stealing their bodies from the mortuary. Years pass: though now confined to a wheelchair, Jarrod manages to open up a new museum in New York, boasting the most incredibly lifelike wax statues ever seen. When Jarrod tries to prevent Burke from torching the museum, he himself is trapped in the conflagration. Henry Jarrod, the owner of a wax museum, whose partner, Matthew Burke Roy Roberts, intends to burn the place down for the insurance money.
In his first full-fledged "horror" role, Vincent Price plays Prof. 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.
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