Slideshow
HOUSE OF WAX in 3-D
*Introduced by Foster Hirsch
U.S., 1953
Directed by André de Toth
Starring Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Frank Lovejoy
Approx. 88 mins. 3-D restoration courtesy Warner Bros.
Mad sculptor Vincent Price — aided by mute henchman Charles Buchinsky (later, Bronson) — re-populates his Victorian Chamber of Horrors with wax-coated victims. And wouldn’t Carolyn Jones (TV’s Morticia Addams) make a lovely Joan of Arc? Watch out for that vat of boiling wax! “As played by epicene Vincent Price in his precamp phase, [the character of sculptor Henry] Jarrod isn’t exactly gay nor is he a necrophiliac, both subjects being strictly taboo in 1950s Hollywood, but the film bristles with unspoken subtexts nonetheless.” – Foster Hirsch
Reviews
“The effects are done with playfulness, zest, and some imagination (they range from a barker batting paddle balls in your face to a murderer leaping from the row in front of you), making this the most entertaining of the gimmick 3-Ds.”
– Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader