Terror no Museu de Cera

This is one of those cheapo horror flicks that were churned out in the 60s/70s, using lots of people who'd been big stars in the 30s and 40s, and not really giving them that much to do. Elsa Lanchester comes off best in this one, as her value didn't diminish much over the years (and she never looked any different!). Not that scary, apart from one or two disturbing bits, the plot is wafer thin and one of those that when you get to the end you keep thinking 'but ...'. And poor Shani Wallis and that dreadful song! But, overall, it is fun and has that weird curiosity value of 'where have I seen him/her before'? for those of us who watch old black and white stuff on a regular basis. Worth tracking down but could have been much, much better.

Terror in the Wax Museum (1973)

** (out of 4)

Set in a wax museum in London, several murders are starting to pile up and everything points back to the museum. Is is a deranged killer, the new owners or are the wax figures coming to life and killing? Here's another remake/rip-off of Mystery of the Wax Museum, which is pretty flat from start to finish but the veteran horror cast makes it worth watching. Ray Milland, John Carradine, Elsa Lanchester and Patrick Knowles star. I think the director should have pumped a little more energy into the film. There are a few laughs from the wax figures, which at times you can see moving.

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").

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.