House of Wax

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House of Wax

PG,

1953,

1h 28m,

Horror

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Watchlist

Watchlist

93%

46 Reviews

Tomatometer

72%

25,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

72%

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.

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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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

May 25, 2023

3.5/4

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.

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TIME Magazine

Oct 17, 2011

An intermittently gripping shocker.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Oct 7, 2008

Casting is competent, Vincent Price is capital as the No. 1 menace.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Mar 26, 2026

3.5/4

Far too many movies released in 3-D have relied on the novelty of the gimmick to cover up what would otherwise be a completely disposable film. But on its own two-dimensional terms, this one's a heckuva lot of fun.

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Kristin Battestella

InSession Film

Apr 19, 2024

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...

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Feb 18, 2022

2.5/4

If nothing else, it reinforces perceptions about the inferiority of remakes.

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Hermione R

Mar 30, 2019

Vincent Price plays the menacing Professor Henry Jarrod, in a role that would solidify his reputation as the creepiest man in Hollywood. With everything from cancan girls to rubber paddleballs finding their way into the audience, 'House of Wax' takes full advantage of the novel 3-D stereoscopic process. House of Wax was released on Blu-ray 3D in 2013. This is a wonderful, creepy scare-fest with great sets, beautiful colors and strong performances. Vincent Price as Henry Jarrod is both lovable and horrifying as the kind man driven mad. Charles Bronson, in a very early role, is super freaky as Henry's mute and morbid assistant. Carolyn Jones (in her pre-Morticia Addams days) is blond, pretty Cathy, the squeaky opportunist with the heart of gold. Phyllis Kirk is the sensible Sue, a slightly uptight but genuinely believable victim. House of Wax maybe be tame by today's standards, but just think of the time, no one ever thought in a million years of something this horrific. A sick artist taking our corpses or killing us just because we would inspire him, it's a scary thought. Vincent Price added so much horror and beauty to this picture that will never be forgotten once you have seen it.

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Hagrid M

Mar 30, 2019

Classic, campy old flick. Still charms.

Kylo R

Feb 9, 2019

It's an OK movie that initially seems headed in one direction before going in a completely different direction. After the fire scene I thought it was going to be a revenge movie about how Vincent Price exacts revenge from Roy Roberts (Burke) and builds a new wax museum. Price as usual gives a great performance, which the movie revolves around. I would have loved to see this in 3-D back in 1953. I was expecting more from this due to how highly it gets ranked in Top All-Time lists.

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Jan 26, 2019

The best thrilling movie ever made! With the best movie character ever portrayed: Vincent Price as Prof. Henry Jarrod!

Harry S

Nov 13, 2018

A captivating story that has an unsatisfying and very predictable conclusion.

Rey P

Mar 2, 2018

vincent price was the greatest

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Andre de Toth

Director

Vincent Price

Prof. Henry Jarrod

Frank Lovejoy

Lt. Tom Brennan

Phyllis Kirk

Sue Allen

Carolyn Jones

Cathy Gray

Paul Picerni

Scott Andrews

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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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