Terror in the Wax Museum

Terror in the Wax Museum

2/5/1973 1h 33m 5.3/10

Overview

Terrifying wax figures of renowned personalities, such as Attila the Hun and Jack the Ripper, surround the sale of a London museum.

Director

Georg Fenady

Top Billed Cast

John Carradine

John Carradine

Claude Dupree

Ray Milland

Ray Milland

Harry Flexner

Elsa Lanchester

Elsa Lanchester

Julia Hawthorn

Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford

Amos Burns

Maurice Evans

Maurice Evans

Inspector Daniels

Lisa Lu

Lisa Lu

Madame Yang

Reviews

Wuchak

5/2/2024

6/10

**_Old-fashioned murder mystery at a house of wax in England_** At the turn of the century in Victorian London, the owner of a wax museum (John Carradine) is offered to sell by a Broadway producer (Broderick Crawford). But his associate doesn’t want him to sell (Ray Milland) and there are relatives who have an interest in the property as well (Elsa Lanchester and Nicole Shelby). When people start winding up dead, a Scotland Yard inspector (Mark Edwards) tries to solve the mystery. “Terror in the Wax Museum” (1973) is a Victorian murder mystery in the tradition of Poe’s "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," which started the genre in 1841 and influenced Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, amongst others. The best film version of “Rue Morgue” is arguably the 1986 one with George C. Scott, Val Kilmer and Rebecca De Mornay. I bring it up because this is cut from the same cloth. Other comparisons include “House of Wax” (1953), Hammer's "The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll" (1960) and Klaus Kinski's "Jack the Ripper" (1976), as well as "Edge of Sanity" (1989) and "From Hell" (2001). This one isn’t as sensationalistic as some of those as it prefers to focus on the murder mystery and the seasoned actors. It’s basically “old-fashioned” horror that’s timelessly entertaining since these types of films keep being made decade after decade. "The Limehouse Golem" is a well-done example from more modern times. Redhead Shani Wallis stands out in the beauty department as the tavern singer while Nicole Shelby is worth a mention as the brunette who may inherit the museum and catches the eye of the young detective. While not exactly great, if you're in the mood for a Victorian milieu, black coats, cobblestone streets, gas lamps, horse-driven carriages, London fog, pub entertainment, ghastly killings, fortune tellings and quaint mystery, this nicely fills the bill. The film runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. GRADE: B-

Similar Movies

Nightmare in Wax

3.4

Nightmare in Wax

1969

Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum

7.7

Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum

1940

Santo in the Wax Museum

4.4

Santo in the Wax Museum

1963

Museum Of Horror

6.1

Museum Of Horror

1964

Face of the Screaming Werewolf

4.0

Face of the Screaming Werewolf

1964

Dracula's Widow

4.4

Dracula's Widow

1988

The House That Dripped Blood

6.3

The House That Dripped Blood

1971

Midnight Manhunt

4.5

Midnight Manhunt

1945

Mystery of the Wax Museum

6.5

Mystery of the Wax Museum

1933

How to Seduce a Virgin

5.1

How to Seduce a Virgin

1974

Waxwork II: Lost in Time

5.0

Waxwork II: Lost in Time

1992

Chamber of Horrors

5.5

Chamber of Horrors

1966

The Frozen Ghost

6.3

The Frozen Ghost

1945

Mill of the Stone Women

6.1

Mill of the Stone Women

1960