#Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

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On October 20, 1933, Mystery of the Wax Museum debuted in Madrid, Spain.

Here's some new Glenda Farrell art!

[weirdlookindog]

Lionel Atwill and Glenda Farrell in Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Mystery of the Wax Museum (Michael Curtiz, 1933)

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SUMMARY: The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.

The mod hasn't seen this movie, but if she's being honest, the 50s remake House of Wax looks better. That being said, a lot of 30s horror (beyond the Universal monsters) doesn't interest her that much.

[the-haunted-toybox]

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: Mystery of the Wax Museum

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★★

Plot: Just before a wax museum opens, corpses begin disappearing from the local morgue.

Review: Snappy dialogue and striking visuals aren't enough to pull together a film that can't decide if it's a comedic noire or tense horror.

Source Material: "The Wax Works" by Charles S. Belden Year: 1933 Genre: Psychological Horror, Mystery Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 17 minutes

Director: Michael Curtiz Writers: Don Mullally, Carl Erickson Cinematographer: Ray Rennahan Editor: George Amy Composer: Cliff Hess Cast: Glenda Farrell, Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Frank McHugh

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Story: 1.5/5 - You can guess the twist without even watching it and its disturbing central concept is only superficially explored. Too much time is spent on dialogue that is not as clever as it wants to be.

Performances: 2.5/5 - Atwell is an unmemorable bad guy, Wray is a generic damsel, and Farrell is sometimes trying too hard to be brash.

Cinematography: 4/5 - Great use of technicolor and fluid camera movements.

Editing: 2.5/5 - Overly abrupt cuts.

Effects: 4/5 - Wonderful use of pyrotechnics and some fun mad scientist tools.

Sets: 4/5 - The wax museums (there are actually two) are the highlights, though they're underutilized.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 2/5 - The burn prosthetics are a bit weak, even for the time.

Trigger Warnings:

Mild violence

Mild body horror

Ableist depiction of a deaf character

Misogyny (uncritical)

Brief racism (uncritical)

[splatteronmywalls]

[siegelst]

i think no one can go wrong in a house of wax remake because they make it good every single time.

[briefgardenerpirate]

Mystery of the Wax Museum and it's two remakes

01. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

02. House of Wax (1953)

03. House of Wax (2005)

[ronmerchant]

Glenda Farrell- MYSTERY IN THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)

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Glenda Farrell with director Michael Curtiz on set of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)

[weirdlookindog]

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

source

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Mystery of the Wax Museum (Michael Curtiz, 1933)

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Stats from Movies 101-200

Top 10 Movies - Highest Number of Votes

The Thing (1982) had the most votes with 2,313 votes.

The 10 Most Watched Films by Percentage

Shaun of the Dead (2004) was the most watched film with 69.30% of voters saying they had seen it.

The 10 Least Watched Films by Percentage

The Wicker Man (2006) was the least watched film with 67.02% of voters saying they hadn't seen it.

The 10 Most Known Films by Percentage

Friday the 13th (1980) was the best known film with only 1.04% of voters saying they'd never heard of it.

The 10 Least Known Films by Percentage

The Doll Master (2004) was the least known film with 88.49% of voters saying they'd never heard of it.

The movies part of the statistic count and their polls below the cut.

The Faculty (1998) You're Next (2011) Matriarch (2022) May (2002) Black Christmas (1974) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) Friday the 13th (1980) Jason X (2001) The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) The Tunnel (2011)

Scream 2 (1997) Climax (2018) Raw (2016) Tusk (2014) A Serbian Film (2010) Waxwork (1988) American Mary (2012) In the Mouth of Madness (1994) The Fog (1980) The Mist (2007)

Ginger Snaps (2000) Scream 3 (2000) House of Wax (1953) Shaun of the Dead (2004) Night of the Living Dead (1968) Basket Case (1982) Malignant (2021) Attack the Block (2011) Insidious (2010) Trick 'r Treat (2007)

The Wolf Man (1941) The Invisible Man (1933) The Invisible Man (2020) Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) Scream 4 (2011) The Last Broadcast (1998) Dark Water (2002) Dog Soldiers (2002) One Missed Call (2003) V/H/S (2012)

The Houses October Built (2014) Occult (2009) Willow Creek (2013) Savageland (2015) The McPherson Tape (1989) Waxworks (1924) Scream (2022) Possum (2018) Cemetery Man (1994) The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

The Thing (1982) Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) Night of the Lepus (1972) Puppet Master (1989) Gargoyles (1972) From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) The Fourth Kind (2009) Dead Silence (2007) The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) American Gothic (1987)

Netherworld (1992) The Bad Seed (1956) Satan’s Triangle (1975) The Creeping Terror (1964) The House That Would Not Die (1970) The Wicker Man (2006) Scream VI (2023) From Beyond (1986) Castle Freak (1995) Beyond the Gates (2016)

The Phantom Empire (1987) The Evil Clergyman (1988) Would You Rather (2012) Chopping Mall (1986) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) [REC] (2007) The Bay (2012) Happy Death Day (2017) Happy Death Day 2U (2019) Mayhem (2017)

Child's Play (2019) Freaky (2020) X (2022) Pearl (2022) Possession (1981) Possessor (2020) Hush (2016) Us (2019) Creep (2014) Creep 2 (2017)

The Witch (2015) Eyes Without a Face (1960) The Void (2016) Annihilation (2018) Color Out of Space (2019) The Thing (2011) The Relic (1997) The Doll Master (2004) Hellhole (2022) The Howling (1981)

[the-haunted-toybox]

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: 1930s Master List II

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Part I | Part III

King Kong (1933 | USA): an actress is abducted by a giant ape. ★★★

The Ghoul (1933 | UK): an Egyptologist returns from the dead for revenge. ★½

The Invisible Man (1933 | USA): a scientist is driven mad by an experiment that turns him invisible. ★★★★

Murders in the Zoo (1933 | USA): an abusive husband uses zoo animals to commit murder. ★★½

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933 | USA): corpses go missing as a wax museum prepares to open. ★★

Supernatural (1933 | USA): an heiress is possessed during a séance. ★½

The Vampire Bat (1933 | USA): people fear a vampire is preying on their town. ★★

The Black Cat (1934 | USA): a WWI POW seeks the man who betrayed him during the war. ★★★½

El fantasma del convento (1934 | Mexico): three people shelter in a strange monastery. ★★★½

Black Moon (1934 | USA): a woman is influenced to return to the island of her youth. 0 stars

Chloe, Love is Calling You (1934 | USA): a biracial woman returns home with her mother, a voodoo priestess. 0 stars.

House of Mystery (1934 | USA): a gorilla hunts a man after he is cursed. ½

Maniac (1934 | USA): an actor kills and impersonates a mad scientist. ½

The Tell-Tale Heart (1934 | UK): a man is driven mad by his housemate's eye. ★★

The Black Room (1935 | USA): a prophecy foretells that a baron's twin will kill him. ★★★★

Bride of Frankenstein (1935 | USA): Frankenstein is forced to make his monster a bride. ★★★★½