Long before the very recent loose re-make featuring Paris Hilton (I'd love to be able to say "Who she?"), there was the 1953 "House of Wax", which was probably the best of the first wave of 3-D movies and which was Vincent Price's breakthrough as a horror icon. And before that film there was this relic from the 30s which is a "must view" for any serious horror fan. I'm told that it was long- believed to be "lost", but I wonder about that since I have had a copy since the early 1980s. However it is now readily available on DVD as an extra (!) on the Price version of the story, which is rather hilarious when you consider that it is quite possibly the better film.
Directed by Michael Curtiz, a remarkably versatile emigre to Hollywood, it was shot in early two-strip Technicolor which, combined with its art deco sets, gives it a unique look of pale pinks, blues and greys. The mad sculptor here is played by Lionel Atwill who was later to become Holmes' nemesis Moriarty and the object of his desire to turn into a wax figure is Fay Wray, given every opportunity to practise her screaming before making the original "King Kong". She is not actually the female lead; that role is taken by Glenda Farrell playing that stalwart 30s' role of snoopy, fast-talking gal-reporter. This is a movie convention that I've never quite warmed to, but it doesn't really distract too much from this film's horror credentials. This early version of the creepy tale is not one that makes you want to hide behind the sofa, but it does make you appreciate the many roots of horror as we now know it.
1 comment:
I thought Paris Hilton was a hotel.
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