Le Cabinet des Figures de Cire

Usually in these Wax horrors, it's the notion of a life entombed in the body that is meant to unsettle, a life extended even into death (or is it the opposite?). This is the first of these films as far as I know - later came the two Houses of Wax, another Waxwork in '88, the Italian Wax Mask from an Argento story - and so the notion is more outdated, more novelistic. Each life a separate story and world, with clear boundaries between them, and acted out by the same couple that writes the stories back in the level of reality.

In Baghdad we get a romantic adventure where the Caliph falls for the baker's girl. Eventually she restores balance by summoning the dead Caliph from beyond the grave for the eyes of his awe-struck vassals. It's a ploy by which the status quo of the Arabian nights is maintained.

In Czarist Russia, the cruel czar who thought he would defy even death is faced with his own mortality. Instead of accepting this common fate, thus coming to understand that a king is also a common man and in so doing be rendered free of his own despotic bonds, he goes mad. It's again a ploy, the poison-maker's vengeance from beyond the grave. But he was mad to begin with, so it doesn't quite matter.

The final story that blends back into the wrap-around and brings us full circle, is about a notorious killer who stalks a man and his girl. This is the segment that strikes some spark; the urbane setting diffused as dreamy, expressionist poem. It's again a ploy, this time a dream - or nightmare.

Both Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt, stars of what was then a booming film industry, relish the opportunity of playing scheming tyrants. But it's all harmless stuff.

I really enjoyed that film. It's not a masterpiece, like "Caligari" or "Nosferatu", but a good fun film anyway. Veidt and Jannings are wonderful. The first part, about Haroun al Rashid (played by Emil Jannings), is very humorous (and funny as well), with well written plot. The second part, about Ivan the Terrible (played by Conrad Veidt), is, in contrast, very dark and depressing. In my humble opinion, it is much better than Eisenstein's movie (which also steals shamelessly from it); for sure, Veidt is better than Cherkasov. The third story is something really weird: it starts and suddenly ends, like the crew ran out of money.

So, a lot of humour in the first part, a lot of "Russian gothic" ;-) in the second part, good acting, good plot, great sets -- if you like silent movies (especially expressionist silent movies), don't miss this one!

P.S. If you like silent movies and still haven't seen "Cabinet of Doctor Kaligari" and "Nosferatu, symphony of horror", see them first -- they are better than "Waxworks"!

A poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper. While writing, the poet and the daughter of the owner, Eva, fantasize the fantastic stories and fall in love for each other.

"Das Wachsfigurenkabinett" is an impressive and very creative movie, changing the colors in accordance with the environment and with amazing scenarios and funny stories. The acrobatic performance of the character Assad the Baker, jumping from a tower of the palace in Baghdad to a tree, is incredible. I did not understand why the genres horror and even thriller are listed for these three romantic adventures in the world of fantasy. I liked very much the first story, indeed very funny and naive; the second one is darker; and the very short third one is weird and romantic. The locations and the atmosphere are another attraction of this great unknown silent movie. I saw an excellent restored version with 83 minutes running time. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Gabinete das Figuras de Cera" ("The Chamber of the Wax Figures")

"Waxworks" is an early example in film history of a movie that's clearly in homage to another film--in this case, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920). The expressionistic stylization in the film is obviously influenced by "Caligari", and a few references to that film reinforces that, beginning with the title. The literal translation of "Das Wachsfigurenkabinett" is "The Wax Figures Cabinet"--the keyword being "cabinet". Additionally, the frame narrative is purposefully set at a carnival, although a more dimensional one than the stage setting in "Caligari".

The narrative structure is closer to Fritz Lang's "Destiny" (1921), with the framing of three odd stories. "Waxworks" has the clever device of a writer of the inner stories in the framing story. And, the three biggest stars of Weimar cinema (Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt and Werner Krauss) play the historical villains and waxworks come alive in the inner stories. For the three stories, a different expressionistic technique dominates, each relating to and enhancing their respective themes. In the Harus al Raschid narrative featuring Jannings, it's the sets (Paul Leni's sphere) with oddly shaped architecture more akin to "Caligari' than Baghdad. Especially nice is the staircase set. Rather than the horrific, dreamlike abstraction of "Caligari", however, the sets are delightfully peculiar, as is Jannings and the silly story. Low-key lighting dominates the Ivan the Terrible episode featuring a darkly paranoid Veidt, and the multiple exposure kaleidoscope imagery places Krauss's stalking serial killer everywhere.

A clever film, and Leni and the other filmmakers seem to have had fun with it, which crosses over to viewers, but beyond that it's rather lackluster, not emotionally engaging as "Destiny", nor stunningly fresh as "Caligari".

This interesting and generally creative silent horror movie is really not all that tense or suspenseful, but it has some interesting stories and characters, and the distinctive expressionistic settings add considerably to the atmosphere. The three stories told about the "Waxworks" all have their own strengths.

It's rather interesting to see Emil Jannings as the Caliph in the first sequence. It's hard not to associate Jannings with the serious characters he played in "The Blue Angel" and "The Last Laugh", yet here he quite successfully portrays the Caliph as something of a buffoon. This story is the lightest of the three, yet it works well due to some creative touches.

The Ivan the Terrible sequence features an interesting, if rather far-fetched, story and a pretty good performance by Conrad Veidt as Ivan. The last sequence, with Spring-Heeled Jack, comes the closest to producing real fear, and it's just unfortunate that it was not more fully developed.

The biggest strength of "Waxworks" is its settings, which establish the right atmosphere and lend an aura of the bizarre that helps the stories to be more convincing. Overall, while not in the class of the finest silent horror classics, this works quite well as lighter entertainment.