Not be confused with the 1933 classic, "Mystery of the Wax Museum", starring Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill, and Glenda Farrell, or the 1953 3D remake, "House of Wax" with Vincent Price (proving that some remakes are excellent movies), "Terror in the Wax Museum" is a bit of a whodunit with kills that allow it to be categorized in the horror realm.
By the way, I'm sure the intention was absolutely for the 1973 movie to be reminiscent of the two classics I mentioned. It's difficult to imagine a movie set in a wax museum, using the words "wax museum" in the title not being at least a bit connected to the movies which came before it. It's almost unavoidable.
To be sure, this little production doesn't stand with the movies that came before it and yet, it rises far above it's derivative roots. It sort of played out like a made for TV movie. The pacing was a bit off at time and the edits a bit rougher than you'd expect from a theatrical release. It has some comedy and the well-known names turn in capable, but a bit campy, performances. The movie features Ray Milan, Elsa Lanchester, Maurice Evans, Patrick Knowles and John Carradine to name a few.
It has all of the elements you'd expect from such a movie. A museum full of wax figures modeled on famous killers, a boiling cauldron of wax positioned under a dodgy catwalk, a disfigured, hunchbacked, deaf mute assistant, an eccentric museum curator who may be a bit too attached to his figures and of course MURDER.
The lighting falls into that TV movie category most of the time. Not super bright and cheery, but hardly shadowy and moody, which the 53 movie gave us. Still, the movie manages to create an atmosphere that is a bit off from center and creepy at times. This atmosphere is often broken by a Scooby-Doo like tip toeing through the museum by characters who have heard a noise in the night.
There are some clues dropped here and there and few blind allies that lead to red herrings, but in the end you probably could guess the killer if you're paying attention and enjoy that part of the game. Overall, it's a decent little old dark house sort of thriller with some mystery, comedy and clichés thrown into the mix.
Perfect for these cold nights we've been experiencing on the East Coast recently. Get under the blankets, head over to Amazon Prime and give "Terror in the Wax a Museum" 73 minutes to entertain you.
It should be noted, I have soft spot for these Wax Museum movies. I watch Mystery and House every year in October. "House of Wax" is one of the first horror movies I remember watching with my Dad when it was on TV one weekend afternoon. I don't think I even saw the whole thing, but I remember being very confused by the big reveal toward the end. And "Mystery of the Wax Museum" is one of the first TCM movies I remember wanting to add to my annual roster of Halloween Horror viewing. Osbourne's introduction and after movie wrap up reminded me of classes in film school and the nostalgia just stayed with me. That said, this affection for the two movies could have given this one a leg up, but it also could have made me more critical of the newer film. In the end I think it was original enough to justify it's existence, but true enough to the style to be a nice addition to the very limited sub genre.
By the way, I'm sure the intention was absolutely for the 1973 movie to be reminiscent of the two classics I mentioned. It's difficult to imagine a movie set in a wax museum, using the words "wax museum" in the title not being at least a bit connected to the movies which came before it. It's almost unavoidable.
To be sure, this little production doesn't stand with the movies that came before it and yet, it rises far above it's derivative roots. It sort of played out like a made for TV movie. The pacing was a bit off at time and the edits a bit rougher than you'd expect from a theatrical release. It has some comedy and the well-known names turn in capable, but a bit campy, performances. The movie features Ray Milan, Elsa Lanchester, Maurice Evans, Patrick Knowles and John Carradine to name a few.
It has all of the elements you'd expect from such a movie. A museum full of wax figures modeled on famous killers, a boiling cauldron of wax positioned under a dodgy catwalk, a disfigured, hunchbacked, deaf mute assistant, an eccentric museum curator who may be a bit too attached to his figures and of course MURDER.
The lighting falls into that TV movie category most of the time. Not super bright and cheery, but hardly shadowy and moody, which the 53 movie gave us. Still, the movie manages to create an atmosphere that is a bit off from center and creepy at times. This atmosphere is often broken by a Scooby-Doo like tip toeing through the museum by characters who have heard a noise in the night.
There are some clues dropped here and there and few blind allies that lead to red herrings, but in the end you probably could guess the killer if you're paying attention and enjoy that part of the game. Overall, it's a decent little old dark house sort of thriller with some mystery, comedy and clichés thrown into the mix.
Perfect for these cold nights we've been experiencing on the East Coast recently. Get under the blankets, head over to Amazon Prime and give "Terror in the Wax a Museum" 73 minutes to entertain you.
It should be noted, I have soft spot for these Wax Museum movies. I watch Mystery and House every year in October. "House of Wax" is one of the first horror movies I remember watching with my Dad when it was on TV one weekend afternoon. I don't think I even saw the whole thing, but I remember being very confused by the big reveal toward the end. And "Mystery of the Wax Museum" is one of the first TCM movies I remember wanting to add to my annual roster of Halloween Horror viewing. Osbourne's introduction and after movie wrap up reminded me of classes in film school and the nostalgia just stayed with me. That said, this affection for the two movies could have given this one a leg up, but it also could have made me more critical of the newer film. In the end I think it was original enough to justify it's existence, but true enough to the style to be a nice addition to the very limited sub genre.
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