RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / House of Wax
House of Wax

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

House of Wax (1953)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
94 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:29

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7.2/10

Consensus: 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.

Runtime: 2 hrs 45 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: André de Toth's remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is one of the first and best 3-D (stereoscopic) feature films, an alternative technology (like Cinemascope, Cinerama) used by 1950s directors... André de Toth's remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is one of the first and best 3-D (stereoscopic) feature films, an alternative technology (like Cinemascope, Cinerama) used by 1950s directors attempting to compete with the new threat of television. Professor Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a devoted wax figure sculptor for his museum in 1910s NYC. When his financial partner, Sidney Wallace (Paul Cavanagh), demands more sensational exhibits to increase profits, Jarrod refuses. The vengeful Wallace torches the museum, leaving Jarrod for dead. Miraculously, Jarrod survives (though his hands and legs are rendered useless) and builds a new House of Wax with help from threatening deaf-mute sculptor, Igor (Charles Bronson). The museum's popular "Chamber of Horrors" showcases recent crimes like the murder of Wallace, a victim of a cloaked, disfigured killer along with his fiancée, Cathy (Carolyn Jones). When Cathy's friend, Sue (Phyllis Kirk), visits the museum she makes a discovery that leads to the horrifying truth behind the House of Wax. With gasp inducing (and tongue-in-cheek) 3-D scenes like the museum fire, paddleball man, and can-can girls, de Toth creates an atmospheric film which stands up as a horror classic in 2-D as well. [More]

Starring: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones

Starring: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Charles Bronson, Paul Picerni, Roy Roberts, Angela Clarke, Paul Cavanagh, Dabbs Greer

Director: Andre De Toth

Director: Andre De Toth
Screenwriter: Crane Wilbur, Charles S. Belden
Producer: Bryan Foy
Composer: David Buttolph

[See More Credits]

Reviews for House of Wax

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A film in which just about every technical and dramatic gambit has been judged to near perfection.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/24/07
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

De Toth brings off one classic sequence with Kirk fleeing through the gaslit streets pursued by a shadowy figure in a billowing cloak.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Tom Milne
Tom Milne
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite Price's presence this is little more than a footnote in American horror cinema.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 1 Comment
03/16/04
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Oh-so-delightfully creepy.

comment Comment
11/23/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Casting is competent, Vincent Price is capital as the No. 1 menace.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/07/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An extremely effective "unmasking" scene at the climax ... stands as one of the great shock moments in horror cinema.

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
07/23/08
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter

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.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/24/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/24/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

No review available.

comment Comment
08/17/06
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Dimly we foresee movie audiences embalmed in three-dimensional wax and sound.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
03/25/06
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Price brings a touch of creepy class to this otherwise middling B-level horror story.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
06/25/05
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

No review available.

comment Comment
06/22/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Vincent Price is truly creepy, hammy and eerie in this role.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
05/24/05
Staci Layne Wilson
Staci Layne Wilson
About.com

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.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/16/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
03/26/05
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

No review available.

comment Comment
03/08/05
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Arguably the best of all 3-D movies.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/20/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/04
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Nicolas Lacroix
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca

No review available.

comment Comment
11/07/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
36% 36% Angels & Demons
95% 95% Star Trek
25% 25% Four Christmases

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
67% 67% Public Enemies
75% 75% Julie & Julia
95% 95% The Cove
85% 85% World's Greatest Dad

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Headed for IMAX Source: Collider.com
38
  • James Cameron Developing Sci-Fi Film for Fox Source: ComingSoon.net
6
  • Peter Jackson Reveals Which LotR Characters Will Return for The Hobbit Source: MTV
12
  • Josh Brolin Rumored for Men in Black 3 Source: Los Angeles Times
18
  • Malkovich and Hathaway Rumored for Spider-Man 4 Source: Movieline
84
  • Avatar Picks Up Golden Globes Buzz Source: HitFix
66
  • Disney's Upcoming Hand-Drawn Movies Revealed Source: Slashfilm
21
  • Cameron Explains Blue Avatar Aliens Source: MTV
37
  • Matt Damon Expects Greengrass to Return for Fourth Bourne Source: Collider.com
10
  • Burton's Dark Shadows Rising in 2010 Source: Sci Fi Wire
12
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
57
  • Total Recall: Keith David's Best Movies
54
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Five Favorite Films With Avatar's Sam Worthington
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
29
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Avatar's Sam Worthington
46
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
23
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • House of Wax at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.