After his unscrupulous business partner leaves him for dead inside their burning waxworks to collect on some insurance money, several years later, the sculptor resurfaces with a new identity and a new venue, including a ghastly chamber of horrors. Also of note, a recent rash of grisly murders have plagued the same city, and in a strange coincidence — too much of a coincidence for the nosy girlfriend of the sculptor’s new assistant — a lot of the new wax figures resemble all of those homicide victims. Will she be able to convince the authorities of her theories before she winds up on display herself? Who am I to ruin a good chase scene. Now. Despite what the ads proclaim, Columbia Pictures’ Man in the Dark managed to beat House of Wax out of the gate by a couple of days, making it the second major studio 3-D effort. However, it should be noted that House of Wax was the first film to use stereo-phonic sound. Based on their earlier film, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Warner’s lucked out when star Vincent Price decided to stay and do the picture instead of heading to London, where the stage was waiting, providing a much needed anchor in a fairly obvious plot. Still, I think director Andre de Toth’s stalk-n-chase sequence through the foggy streets has yet to be topped by any other 3-D film. Don’t believe me? Break out your 3-D glasses and take a look:
Told ya!
Other Points of Interest:
2-D Poster campaign for House of Wax at the Archive.
3-D Poster Campaign for House of Wax at the Archive.
House of Wax (1953) Bryan Foy Productions :: Warner Bros. / P: Bryan Foy / D: André De Toth / W: Crane Wilbur / C: Bert Glennon / E: Rudi Fehr / M: David Buttolph / S: Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Frank Lovejoy, Carolyn Jones, Dabbs Greer, Charles Bronson
Scenes from the Morgue 
