The theme for this week is going to be a look at some original horror movies and their remakes. Starting us off we are going all the way back to the 50’s for a look at a classic Vincent Price film that I didn’t realize was originally made to be in 3D. Hollywood does love a gimmick. The “reveal” of the movie isn’t exactly a big twist or anything so I wont be worrying about spoilers since I think the limit on that runs out after about 70 years or so.

Professor Henry Jarrod (Price) is a talented sculptor in the early 1900’s of New York City. He takes great loving care in his craft and talks to his wax creations as if they were alive. His greedy business partner doesn’t share his love of the arts and wants out of the investment he’s made and so decides to commit some light insurance fraud by setting the wax museum on fire. He believes Jarrod perishes in the flames but instead he becomes disfigured and goes more than a little mad. His hands injured in the fire such that he can no longer sculpt like he could before, Jarrod turns to murder and corpse thieving to create his lifelike wax sculptures in a brand new wax museum. However, when the only witness to one of his murders finds a Joan of Arc that looks suspiciously exactly like her dead roommate, Jarrod is pushed to create a final masterpiece.

Coming off of the Terrifier series and going to this classic movie is such a complete whiplash. House of Wax obviously lacks what most modern horror would require. There is no blood or gore, no extreme onscreen violence, no jump scares, and no shocking twist. Instead there is the calm and quiet insanity of Vincent Price that, even before be becomes burned and murderous, makes you feel just a bit uneasy being around him. Instead of a heightened sense of horror with violins screeching, there is the very real feeling you get when you talk with someone and you can’t quite verbalize why they make your skin crawl. This isn’t a movie that is going to give you nightmares, especially for modern audiences, but it is a great showcase in how a movie doesn’t need to lean on all of those modern contrivances like a crutch to still be a good movie.

Some of the biggest issues with the movie nowadays when you watch is the fact that it is painfully obvious it was shot to be in 3D. You have some shots and entire scenes done blatantly to make use of the effect with one straight up breaking the 4th wall to talk to the audience. The make-up effects on Price, however, are great for the time. When he isn’t wearing a wax mask to make it look like he has regular Vincent Price face, the disfigurement is well done without looking overly plastic or obviously fake. Also, young Charles Bronson can get it. I am also amused that the thing that saves the day and makes it so the police can crack the case and rescue the victims is a guy having the DTs so bad that he confesses in order to get some booze.

Definitely a fun watch but Vincent Price is a delight even when he’s in a bad movie and this is one of his better ones.

Score: 4 out of 5