House of Wax [PG]

Professor Henry Jarrod is a talented and beauty-obsessed wax sculptor who is plunged into madness and left hideously deformed when his business partner burns down their wax museum to claim the insurance money. Jarrod narrowly escaped but can never sculpt again. Nevertheless, he decides to open a new wax museum, devising a cunning and murderous way of filling it with exhibits as well as doling out a little revenge. 

It saddens my greatly that there are very few of Vincent Price’s movies available on DVD. The man was a wonderful and hypnotic actor with a voice that chills and attracts, making him the ultimate villain: both irresistibly charming and devilishly psychotic. House of Wax, which I think is the only Vincent Price movie we have at work (I’ll have to check up on that) displays a most memorable performance from the horror great, him being the only thing worth watching in the entire film. 

Professor Henry Jarrod is a talented and beauty-obsessed wax sculptor who is plunged into madness and left hideously deformed when his business partner burns down their wax museum to claim the insurance money. Jarrod narrowly escaped but can never sculpt again. Nevertheless, he decides to open a new wax museum, devising a cunning and murderous way of filling it with exhibits as well as doling out a little revenge. 

Essentially the best way to describe this move is eerie. And its slightly chilling eeriness is really only achieved through the amazing achievement of the wax sculptures. The use of wax and prosthetics in this movie was pretty damned impressive and, although created back in the 50s, the effect on the audience is close on par with the horror effects of later decades; particularly Price’s deformed facial makeup and then his wax face, which we discover during the film’s climax. Watch out for that one, I definitely didn’t see it coming. 

There are some great bouts of plot misdirection and suspense, but without a doubt the show belonged to Vincent, who delivered a performance that was eerie, sinister, and at the same time irresistibly charming. He’s a real killer. Unfortunately for the rest of the cast, they may as well have been made out of wax because everyone else’s performance was completely wooden in comparison. 

Starring Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Paul Picerni, Paul Cavanagh, Dabbs Greer, Roy Rogers, and Charles Bronson, House of Wax was a fine and spooky film, but not one that I could watch again. I really only just watched it perve on Vincent Price. Filled with madness, deformity, violence, horror, and murder, it was a fine and eerie film, but cleverer things have been done.