Il manichino assassino

I'm happy to see that some in Hollywood are going an extra mile to recognize the great work and talent of our great horror film actors like Lugosi, Karloff, Price and the Chaneys.

But I'm disappointed to see that John Carradine hasn't received his share of credit yet. Carradine had this great aura about him of the man teetering on the precipt between sanity and madness in many of his parts. And no one who ever saw him in even the B films such as "Unearthly" or "Red Zone Cuba" can ever say that he wasn't by far the best performer in the picture or say that he ever gave less than his best efforts.

Forget the IMDb rating - it should be 7/10. This is a charming little film about wax museum and murders in Victorian England. Is Jack the Ripper behind it all? Eeek! Or is there something supernatural involved - like the living wax figures? Double eek! It's entertaining and clean little flick, with no gore, bad language or other touches of Whitechapel sewers, and a supporting cast is full of seasoned monster movie veterans, including Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein herself!), John Carradine (Dracula from Universal classics House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula) and Patric Knowles (the werewolf movie milestone Wolf man).

Terror in the Wax Museum is more murder mystery than it is a horror film. With plenty of suspects and one red herring at the very end, the movie keeps you guessing whodunit throughout. It's not horribly scary, therefore it's the mystery aspect that will keep you watching.

There are definitely some silly moments, such as a couple of dream sequences and wax figures (played by actors) that are accidentally caught on-screen moving and breathing. However, don't let that distract you from the solid work from the cast, especially Ray Milland. The story itself has its moments of suspense, with a few chilling scenes. Overall, however, don't go into this film thinking it will scare you very much.

Recommended for lovers of good old-fashioned whodunits.

1973's "Terror in the Wax Museum" was among the handful of horror films made through Bing Crosby Productions, best remembered for "Willard" and "Ben" (the crooner himself having left the fold years earlier), the first of two from the brothers Fenady, producer Andrew and director Georg also responsible for the darkly comic "Arnold." Both features betray their TV background with studio bound exteriors depicting turn of the century London, aided greatly by the casting of screen veterans in major roles, with John Carradine introducing this one as waxworks owner Claude Dupree, entertaining offers to sell out to New York businessman Amos Burns (Broderick Crawford), but remaining loyal to longtime collaborators Harry Flexner (Ray Milland) and disfigured deaf mute Karkov (Steven Marlo). Running the pub next door is building owner Tim Fowley (Louis Hayward), its chanteuse entertainer (Shani Wallis) belting out the same excruciating number night after night. The wax figures on display are some of history's most notorious murderers, including one for the never caught Jack the Ripper, who mysteriously comes to life to snuff out Dupree for his 'betrayal' of inanimate friends. Scotland Yard's perfunctory investigation proves a slow moving slog through intriguing possibilities, such as the real Ripper seeking revenge for his unflattering effigy, and as cast members die off the hidden culprit looks more and more like a sure bet. Carradine and Milland come off best, an improvement on Cameron Mitchell's "Nightmare in Wax" but hardly a patch on Vincent Price's "House of Wax" (lacking the humorous tone of the next Fenady film, "Arnold").

A mystery slasher is stalking a famous wax museum. Who is the culprit? Who will survive the terror? This is a pleasant and painless way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon, but don't expect too much. Be warned, it is very hard to find on video.