Not too long ago I had bought the DVD of House of Wax (1953). After watching that great movie I noticed there was a special feature on it named "Mystery of the Wax Museum". My first thought was it might be some documentary. I was pleasantly surprised it was in fact a full length movie from the thirties. So I decided to give this one a go too.
Soon it became clear this was the movie that formed an inspiration for House of Wax. They do basically have the same story. So yes House of Wax is a remake. I prefer the remake because it story was not as rushed as the original, characters were better developed, visually better and Vincent Price was wonderful as the wax artist.
This original does have it strong points too. The best thing for me was the energetic character of Glenda Farrell as the female reporter, that I think was the only thing the remake lacked. The wax statues do look very real in this original too. And even though not as good as Price, the artist is here played very well too. I think when his masks falls of he is even scarier than the one in the remake.
Soon it became clear this was the movie that formed an inspiration for House of Wax. They do basically have the same story. So yes House of Wax is a remake. I prefer the remake because it story was not as rushed as the original, characters were better developed, visually better and Vincent Price was wonderful as the wax artist.
This original does have it strong points too. The best thing for me was the energetic character of Glenda Farrell as the female reporter, that I think was the only thing the remake lacked. The wax statues do look very real in this original too. And even though not as good as Price, the artist is here played very well too. I think when his masks falls of he is even scarier than the one in the remake.