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House of Wax

Play trailer Poster for House of Wax PG Released Apr 10, 1953 1h 28m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 46 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Wax sculptor Henry (Vincent Price) is horrified to learn that his business partner, Matthew (Roy Roberts), plans on torching their wax museum to collect on the insurance policy. Henry miraculously survives a fiery confrontation with Matthew and re-emerges some years hence with a museum of his own. But when the appearance of Henry's new wax sculptures occurs at the same time that a number of corpses vanish from the city morgue, art student Sue Allen (Phyllis Kirk) begins suspecting wrongdoing.
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House of Wax

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Critics 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.

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Critics Reviews

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Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com De Toth directs the heck out of House of Wax, and it’s one of the only 3-D offerings of the period that doesn’t rely entirely upon its visual gimmick to shock its audience. Rated: 3.5/4 May 25, 2023 Full Review TIME Magazine An intermittently gripping shocker. Oct 17, 2011 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Casting is competent, Vincent Price is capital as the No. 1 menace. Oct 7, 2008 Full Review Kristin Battestella InSession Film Big VP hones his campy, over the top horror mastery, and viewers root for his slick talking, multifaceted artist. We believe his masterfully diabolical plan to serve his enemies their comeuppance... Apr 19, 2024 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review If nothing else, it reinforces perceptions about the inferiority of remakes. Rated: 2.5/4 Feb 18, 2022 Full Review Nell Dodson Russell Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Filmed in Warnercolor and having the advantage of an actor of Vincent Price's calibre to head the cast, House of Wax will make suspenseful entertainment for most movie-goers. The figures in the wax museum become almost too realistic as seen in 3-D. Dec 15, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This was a part of SvenGoolie. The master of horror Vincent Price. So much better than the Paris Hilton remake. I love the style of it. Def one of the horror classics. 7.4/10 it's really good. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/20/24 Full Review Dallas H This has to be one of my all-time favorite Vincent Price films. I truly enjoy watching it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/20/24 Full Review Aaron C Classic horror film, don't understand how anyone can dislike this film. Storyline is great, the effects for the time are great. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/19/24 Full Review Blu B A Horror Classic. Really well done across the board. The setting is memorable, The killer is really good, the special effects are really good also especially the opening fire sequence. It's a really clever idea and it works great on the big screen. There's something inherently creepy about wax figures and this capitalizes on that with a reallly creepy and disturbing plot. No jumpscares and minimal gore with a pretty good plot twist that may seem obvious or might not. Were led to believe Price is the killer but it throws enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Vincent Price is excellent in this and is easily the best thing. Whenever he's on screen it's at it's best. Everyone else is good but no one is as meorable as Price and whenever it isn't focused on him which is probably half the film it isn't as strong. It's still good though thanks to the solid direction and interesting plot. Also, the killer scenes feel like a completely different film at times compared to the main wax museum storyline as well. The 3D gimmicks really don't add much here and seeing it in normally it really isn't that big a distraction here as it's pretty minimal actually from what I can tell. The only real obvious part is the paddleball guy who was amusing to his credit. But all comes together well in the end. Anyone who is a horror fan, fan of any actors in this, or the director should check this out. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/15/24 Full Review JJJJJJ J Acceptable. Maybe above average for its time. I really liked the opening sequence. The problem with this film is that very early on you know the conclusion to the film and the question then just becomes when will they get there and how? Unfortunately that journey was neither interesting, or thought provoking. I'd skip this film unless you have a good reason. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/28/23 Full Review Cara A This film came out 10 years before I was born. I have loved watching it over and over. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have watched House of Wax. Vincent Price absolutely rocked in this film. The writing and cinematography make this a most enjoyable experience for horror classic. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
House of Wax

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Wax sculptor Henry (Vincent Price) is horrified to learn that his business partner, Matthew (Roy Roberts), plans on torching their wax museum to collect on the insurance policy. Henry miraculously survives a fiery confrontation with Matthew and re-emerges some years hence with a museum of his own. But when the appearance of Henry's new wax sculptures occurs at the same time that a number of corpses vanish from the city morgue, art student Sue Allen (Phyllis Kirk) begins suspecting wrongdoing.
Director
Andre de Toth
Producer
Bryan Foy
Screenwriter
Charles Belden, Crane Wilbur
Distributor
Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Production Co
Warner Brothers
Rating
PG
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 10, 1953, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 19, 2016
Runtime
1h 28m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Mono
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