Customer Reviews

Nightmare in Wax [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have real Creature Feature memories of this one from when I was but a wee shaver, so seeing again was a treat. That being said, it is not a lost gem, rather it is very bad and dated but still watchable. This time around I was struck by how stupid the cops were. You have a string of murders and the police find Cameron Mitchell in a cape and eyepatch and with incredibly lifelike models of the deceased but don't make a suspect of him....Anyhow, that's the kind of movie it is.

The violence is pretty tame by today's standards, and although there is no nudity, it does offer a totally bodacious go-go dance scene with interesting period costumes.

The only other Amazon reviewer of this flick gave it five stars, which is completely unjustifiable, so I wanted to put my two cents in to set the record straight, particularly since it has become hard to find.

Disclaimer: The version of the film that I watched was included in The Gorehouse Greats Collection, so I cannot comment on the quality of the DVD offered on this product page. My review is concerned with the entertainment value of the film only.

Cameron Mitchell (who would later prove he was up for anything by taking a lead role in 'Kung Fu Cannibals) is Vincent Reynard, a former make-up artist to the stars, now disfigured from an accident involving a cigarette lighter and a drink thrown in his face. Unable to let go of his bitterness toward the studio head that scarred him, or the leading lady he abandoned after his accident, he putters around the basement of the Hollywood Wax Museum, devising his revenge.

This movie absolutely screams late-'60's faux hipness with its hepcat lingo and fashion statements - even in the sixties, could you really wear a cape all the time and get away with it? - and with its not-so-subtle in-house references to the film industry. Nevertheless, director Bud Townsend milks the fascination with Hollywood and the go-go style for all its worth as he drags this 1930-ish horror script into the dawning light of the Me-Decade, mixing a madman's revenge story in with that special sort of phony face the studios used to present to the hayseed public. Don't get me wrong, it's still all phony, but that Rat Pack cool cat act is particularly tough to swallow anymore, especially coming from Berry Kroeger - an Orson Welles clone named Max Black. Max is the jealous suitor who threw the drink in Vincent's face, see, but when they meet again, years later, all Max can say is 'Nice seeing you again, Vince baby'.

Cameron Mitchell, as the mad make-up artist, is pretty competent here, as is Kroeger - as far as the script will allow, anyway. Anne Helm as the former fiancee looks nice at least, and Victoria Carroll does pretty well as she channels a bubble-headed wannabe star auditioning on the casting couch. Hollis Morrison, the wax museum tour guide, is here for some unfunny comedy relief, and Johnny Cardos (who had bit parts in a lot of the Crown International flicks of the late '60's), gives a workmanlike effort as the cop who finally tracks Vincent to his lair. But the whole thing is about as exciting as an episode of 'Mannix'. Vincent's horrible revenge plan consists of kidnapping the stars of the studio - and of his former fiancee's new husband-to-be - and placing them under an immobilizing, drug-fueled hypnotic spell. From there, he has the brilliant idea of displaying them as if they were wax dummies of his own creation. But as the cops are closing in, and the hypnotic spell begins to wear off, Vincent has to confront an end that is truly a nightmare.

I'll grant a B-movie the right to have a B-movie script and dialogue - but there has to be something to else to take the place of good filmmaking. Something quirky or surprising or even shocking. 'Nightmare in Wax' isn't any of these things - not bad enough to be good, and not good enough to be good either. Fans of exploitation cinema are advised to look elsewhere, as this is PG horror that wouldn't even scare your sixth grader.

Imdb doesn't list any extras associated with this disc, nor can I figure out the studio that released it. I would suggest that, for those who may consider purchasing this film, that they look at one of Mill Creek's multi-packs in which this title is included. The picture and sound are not good on the 'Gorehouse Greats' collection - though it is watchable - but I have my doubts that it's going to be any better here, and it will be much easier on the pocketbook. Baby.

I saw this on TV when I was a kid, and wanted to revisit it.

The story of a scorned man, seeking revenge by using a mind control drug to turn his enemies and a few hotties into compliant zombies, posing as wax figures, still holds up.

I think if this movie had been made at a different time the protagonist might have had his way with the ladies he'd zombified. It seemed a waste to just pose them and walk away.

The music and sights of the period made this movie fun as well. There aren't really places to have a beer at lunch and watch go-go- dancing anymore.

Nightmare in Wax pulls together several themes that were popular in the 60s and 70s. There is the fascination with wax museums, and the sinister way in which they capture the appearance of real people, seen also in House of Wax, for example. There is also the preservation of life in body parts and, in particular, heads, such as in The Brain that Wouldn't Die. Add to that a comic twist of poking fun at actors and their own arrogance at their fame, such as in Theater of Blood. Nightmare in Wax brings all of these together, and it does surprisingly well for a movie that will remind you of so many others. Most notable are the scenes in the curator/scientists' lair which mix strange machinery, odd camera angles, and psychedelic color; the result is satisfyingly surreal.

In this 60's cult classic starring Cameron Mitchell and Anne Helm is about a makeup artist in a wax museum who murders famous celebrities and puts them up on display in his museum covered with wax.It's a must see horror flick!!