Mystery of the Wax Museum
I have never seen a movie that was this much of a roller coaster ever of good and bad and create one of the best scenes in 1930s cinema just to end the movie with the most shitty. Sigh, I can't lie, that really affects my rating.
So, this is basically the exact same movie as House of Wax in 1953 except it's shorted and a few minor changes. The best thing about this film is how easy it is to get through to most part and how streamlined it is. The beats are very good. The issue is that the remake of this makes the revenge angle a lot more interesting and does NOT have the reporter subplot in this movie. Let me be clear... the reporter subplot in this movie RUINS it!!! It has to be some of the worst character dynamics I have ever seen and is just... abysmal. I can not stress just how much the ending to this film pissed me off. I think I felt my soul leaving my body from the cringe and just awful dynamic in this.
It's really sad because this was on track to be a 9/10 or 10/10 movie but I just can't stand the sub-plots. I think the 1953 script could have been tighter and this movie is evidence that it COULD work. The action, sets, and whole atmosphere in this are lovely and it's insane that this film is almost 100 years old! I would still recommend it, but if you hate the reporter subplot as much as I do, you can just skip the last minute of this movie.
So, this is basically the exact same movie as House of Wax in 1953 except it's shorted and a few minor changes. The best thing about this film is how easy it is to get through to most part and how streamlined it is. The beats are very good. The issue is that the remake of this makes the revenge angle a lot more interesting and does NOT have the reporter subplot in this movie. Let me be clear... the reporter subplot in this movie RUINS it!!! It has to be some of the worst character dynamics I have ever seen and is just... abysmal. I can not stress just how much the ending to this film pissed me off. I think I felt my soul leaving my body from the cringe and just awful dynamic in this.
It's really sad because this was on track to be a 9/10 or 10/10 movie but I just can't stand the sub-plots. I think the 1953 script could have been tighter and this movie is evidence that it COULD work. The action, sets, and whole atmosphere in this are lovely and it's insane that this film is almost 100 years old! I would still recommend it, but if you hate the reporter subplot as much as I do, you can just skip the last minute of this movie.
Mini Review: I’ve never seen a movie this much of a roller coaster between great and terrible. It creates one of the best scenes in 1930s cinema, then ends with something unbelievably bad. That really hurts my rating. It’s basically the same film as the 1953 House of Wax, just shorter and more streamlined. The pacing works well and it’s very easy to watch, but the reporter subplot completely ruins it. The character dynamics are awful, and the ending honestly made me cringe. It could have been a 9 or 10.