Director: Michael Curtiz
Year: 1933
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
When the attempt to discover the secret behind a wax maker's portrayals in a museum is started, the investigators find a much more macabre and sinister reason behind them all, and when it ties into a series of local disappearances the police join in the search and bring the madman to justice.
Review:
While this one isn't terrible, it's still a pretty lowered film. The biggest factor for this one here is the general look of the film in that there's a rather impressive set of work done on the Wax Museums. They both look incredible, as the realistic-looking sculptures look so much more believable due to the positioning amid the dioramas positioned together. This one offers plenty to like in that regard showing a rather great look and has some fun with all the backstage antics showing how they're created and set-up around the museum that makes them all the better. The other really great feature is the large wax station at the end, which is a really beautiful set that looks really huge and impressive.
Aside from the sets, the one really impressive thing about the film is its great opening, as this one has one of the greatest, most action-packed openings around as after the rumblings of the insurance, it soon gets the idea that something big will happen. This one delivers better than expected as there's a rather great brawl amidst a spectacular fire that is full of spectacle, which gets completely over-the-top later on when watching the wax gorily drip away in the blaze which is really fun. This scene is what really makes this movie work, and gives this a great opening that settles into a couple rather enjoyable scenes later on that show the brawling done to find out the truth that also works nicely. Alongside the fine finale in the basement which has some really enjoyable moments during the attempt to rescue the captive, there's plenty to like here that almost makes up for the film's several flaws.
The most predominant one is that there's way too much time on the lame investigator angle which is done in a really annoying manner. This one decides to have her find a lead in the story and upon looking into it, they find a way to make it look bad for her, then finds another one and is allowed to pursue it. This happens repeatedly in the film and after so many times, it finally gets to the point where it's too ridiculous to be believable. The second flaw is that it squanders one of the best possible scares in the film, the destruction of the wax mask to reveal the scarred face beneath. Seeing this should've been the greatest shock in the film, since it's set-up to come as a total surprise when it occurs, though here, there are several shots of the face long before the mask breaks, and it does leave a really huge missed opportunity quite apparent. These here really ruin the film's momentum.
Overview: ***/5
Brilliant when it's on but decent when it's not, this is a serviceable genre fare from that time period that doesn't have too much to either drag it down or make it exceptional. Give it a shot if you're a fan of this kind of feature or are curious about it while most others that don't enjoy any of those factors should need caution.
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