House Of Wax (1953)

House of Wax, released in 1953, starring horror film legend Vincent Price. The film is a few things, first and foremost it is an amazing classic horror film. Though the film was also marketed as a gimmick, which honestly was a bit annoying and to me got in the way of what should have been an amazing serious horror film. The film was the first american 3D filmed in technicolor, the film was also the first 3D film to use stereophonic sound in a movie theater. Sadly though the filmmakers over-hyped these features, and added in scenes just to emphasize these features, and it was distracting, and took what should have been an amazing film and cheapened it and made it come off as silly. The plot is well done, and borrows very heavily from the film Mystery of the Wax Museum, some of the dialogue is even done word for word. Though it is also not an exact remake of the previous film. In many ways I feel like this film is a better version, and is definitely a more memorable one, with the amazing performance of Vincent Price. This film also is the film that took Vincent Price from doing low budget and supporting roles, to becoming a notable film star. One of the supporting actresses in the film Carolyn Jones would go on to have a very successful television career as Morticia Adams in the Addams Family. When this film was released it received mixed, mostly negative reviews, some of the reviews were very critically harsh. The film has gone on to be a cult classic, and a film that most horror fans praise. The film even had a very very terrible reboot in 2005 with a terrible cast, and an even more terrible story. This film, and Vincent Price have become iconic over the years. I do hold this film in high regard, though I will admit freely that I can understand the bad reviews, I do agree that there were a lot of parts that were nothing more than gimmicks and the film would be much better with out those parts, like the can can girls, and the paddle ball guy, they added nothing to the film other than showing what could be done with 3D technology of the time. Though if one can get past that though, what lies beneath is a very decent horror film. I do also agree that this film (gimmicks aside) add nothing new to the genre, and seems to be a bit rushed, and not as well developed as even it's predecessor The Mystery Of The Wax Museum was. Would I recommend this film? Yes, absolutely. This is a fun classic horror movie that should be a must see for all fans of the genre. I also feel like this would be a great film to throw on at any Halloween party, it is really a great fun horror themed party film.