House of Wax

"You've never been scared until you've been scared in 3-D."

1953 1h 28m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 401

HorrorCrime

Synopsis

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A sculptor opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures, but quickly runs into trouble when his business partner demands the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profits.

“You've never been scared until you've been scared in 3-D.”

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Cast

Vincent Price
Henry Jarrod
Frank Lovejoy
Tom Brennan
Phyllis Kirk
Sue Allen
Carolyn Jones
Cathy Gray
Paul Picerni
Scott Andrews
Roy Roberts
Matthew Burke
Angela Clarke
Mrs. Andrews
Paul Cavanagh
Sidney Wallace

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: André de Toth
Writers: Crane Wilbur, Charles S. Belden
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $24M — a 23.8× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

73 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by André de Toth, shot by Bert Glennon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Buttolph. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor James Kitchen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Vincent Price and Frank Lovejoy and Phyllis Kirk carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

André de Toth directs. Bert Glennon behind the camera. David Buttolph scores. James Kitchen cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $24M — a 23.8× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
473 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Directed by André de Toth, shot by Bert Glennon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by David Buttolph. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor James Kitchen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Vincent Price and Frank Lovejoy and Phyllis Kirk carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "You've never been scared until you've been scared in 3-D.".
10IMDB entry: tt0045888 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 16 themes, including "mask", "new york city", "wheelchair", "halloween".
12Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Original score: David Buttolph
Editing: James Kitchen
Costume design: Howard Shoup
Makeup / hair: Gordon Bau
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Box office: $23,750,319
Return: 2375% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: House of Wax (1953)

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André de Toth

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What people are saying

John Chard2019-07-18
★ 9/10
In any format it's a genre highlight. Henry Jarrod is a very talented sculptor of wax figures for a museum. But as the museum starts to flounder, Jarrod's partner, Matthew Burke, insists on taking a new direction, a row ensues and Jarrod is knocked unconscious. Burke seizes the opportunity to torch the museum and get the insurance money, with Jarrod still in the premises. Thought long since dead, Jarrod resurfaces, apparently wheel chair bound and with horribly burned hands. Opening up a new museum, his new figures (made by his protégé under his instruction) look ever more lifelike than before, could he be responsible for some despicable crimes in the area? This marvellous film is a remake of the 1933 chiller, The Mystery Of The Wax Museum, directed by Michael Curtiz. Here this film is taken on by Andre de Toth, originally filmed in 3-D with the then bonus addition of Warner Phonic Sound, it's a picture that thankfully holds up real well even in its basic flat format. The reason it does hold up well is because director de Toth didn't get carried away with the gimmick, it's used sparingly so the narrative never gets lost amongst any trickery, and thus House Of Wax's excellently creepy story comes to the fore. Having the ever supreme Vincent Price as your leading man (Jarrod) will always help your horror genre picture, and here he two folds the performance brilliantly. At first his Jarrod is charming and carrying a grace about his dedication to his craft, but then, devilment takes control as Price pumps creepy ardour into Jarrod's fractured mind. Quite a turn from Price who most definitely suffered for his art during the shoot, forced to do his own stunts (the 3D process needs more than one camera), he was involved in an accident that set him on fire and almost saw him crushed!Then there was the long and often painful make up sessions to get the desired effects of a burns victim, layers of rubber strangling his skin to the point of passing out, oh yes Vincent earned his money on this one! We even get one of the earliest credited performances from Charles Bronson (here under his real name of Buchinsky) as Jarrod's assistant Igor, whilst fans of The Addams Family TV series will no doubt enjoy the performance of future Mortica, Carolyn Jones. The film was a big success on its release, and hugely popular with critics, and it's not hard to see why, because today it still stands proud as one of the finest exponents of classic horror, both as a story and as a technical construction. 9/10

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