HOUSE OF WAX (1953)

The premise is so simple, you'd wonder why it's not used more often. Maniac does away with others and uses them as attractions in a circus, funhouse, etc. Such is with the original HOUSE OF WAX. Legendary Vincent Price runs a wax museum until it is intentionally burned down by his business partner for insurance money. Thought to be dead at first, he is alive and returns to run another museum, though this time with too-lifelike figures 'fleshing' out the environment. A remake was done of this not too long ago and was decent for what it was, but the original stands on its own for the always great Price, atmosphere, and suspense. You could only do so much in the 1950s, and even with those limitations, this one gets the point across of having a macabre setting where folks meet their demise and are hung on display to the uninformed public that what they are seeing is real. Though it is implied many of these figures were mainly morgue bodies captured, the thought of live people being turned into figures adds some extra horror (that was mainly how the remake was done). Either way, this is another good example of Vincent Price elevating the material above where it should be; a decent movie overall without him but with him gives an extra point. If you're a fan, worth your while to check out when you're not melting away this summer.

SLASH SCENE: Chamber of Horrors room

SLASH SCORE: 4/5