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MOVIES / ON DVD / HOUSE OF WAX
House of Wax

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House of Wax (1953)

93%
50%
76%
N/A
N/A
N/A
93 %
Reviews Counted: 29 Fresh: 27  Rotten:2 Average Rating: 7.1/10
 
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.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

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 attempting to compete with the new threat of television. Professor Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a... 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]

Genre: Horror/Suspense

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

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

DVD Info

Release:

May 8, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Mono - English
  • Mono - Spanish

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Ratings Image
4/5

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

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

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 | comment Comment
02/09/06
Tom Milne
Time Out
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Ratings Image
N/A

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/16/04
Jamie Russell
Channel 4 Film
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Ratings Image
N/A

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

Full Review | comment Comment
07/23/08
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter
Ratings Image
3/4

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 | comment Comment
09/24/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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N/A

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 | comment Comment
09/24/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
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3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
08/17/06
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
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2/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/25/06
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
B-

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

Full Review | comment Comment
06/25/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
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3/5

No review available.

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

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

Full Review | comment Comment
05/24/05
Staci Layne Wilson
About.com
Ratings Image
4/4

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 | comment Comment
05/16/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
03/26/05
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
03/08/05
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Ratings Image
5/5

Arguably the best of all 3-D movies.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/20/05
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
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3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/04
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
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3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca
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4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
11/07/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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7/10

...the film is still a crowd pleaser, its dusky shadows, turn-of-the-century setting, menacing villain, and bizarre museum as creepy as ever.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/08/03
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Joyfully macabre.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/04/03
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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