House of Wax (1953) directed by Andre de Toth
The great sculptor Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a bit of a prima donna. He creates beautiful, historical works. They are truly exquisite but they do not draw crowds like neighboring waxworks displays in New York City that focus on the lurid and shocking. Jarrod's financial partner Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) is very unhappy with the trickle of money coming in and wants things to change. Jarrod has invited a wealthy art critic to visit his displays. The critic is interested in investing but has to travel to Egypt for an archeological dig before he can commit. He'll be gone for three months. Burke is upset with the delay since he has other investment prospects. Burke offers a different plan--they can burn down the building and split the twenty-five thousand dollars in insurance money. Jarrod is horrified because he loves his works and refuses to harm them. Burke insists, starting the fire and a brawl with Jarrod. Jarrod is knocked out and Burke leaves the flaming building. In the aftermath, everyone assumes Jarrod died. Burke winds up not having to split the money.
Not long after, a series of bodies disappear from the streets of New York. A cloaked figure stalks the streets and the morgues. It's a scarred Jarrod, who is planning both for revenge on Burke and to open a new house of wax. To speed up the production process, he uses a new and gruesome method for producing the figures.
The movie is legendary, one of the big 3D movies that came out as a gimmick to compete with the television. Some of the scenes are blatantly 3D. The two most notable are the paddleball performer who shoots his ball out over the audience and the can-can dancers who kick their legs out into the audience. Both scenes are mostly gratuitous and are less impressive at home on a 2D television. They are a bit cheesy, but so are some other elements that add comedy to balance out the horror. The spirit of entertainment is woven throughout the film. Price is his usual smooth and effective self, transitioning from the metaphorically-tortured artist who loves his work more than anything into the physically-tortured and deformed man who now has more sinister motives. The rest of the cast is good but do not shine as much as Price. The plot moves at a good pace and the lavish sets and technicolor set the right mood for the film.
Recommended--this is classic Price horror entertainment, with lots of silly theatricality.
The Fly (1958) directed by Kurt Neumann
A young woman, Helene (Patricia Owens), flees a factory where she has just killed a man. The man is her husband Andre (David Al Hedison), an obsessed scientist. She calls her brother-in-law Francois (Vincent Price) to have him call the police and come over to her home. Francois comes and finds her acting like a mad woman. Francois takes her son Phillipe (Charles Herbert) home with him as the investigation into the murder commences. The police cannot get anything out of Helene at first. She admits she did the deed but claims it was the wishes of her husband. Eventually she breaks down and tells the story to the inspector (Herbert Marshall) and Francois of what happened. Her husband was working on a teleportation device, somewhat obsessively, and a horrible accident made the situation extremely stressful.
In case you haven't seen the film or known the twist about what happened, I won't spoil it here. I saw this as a kid and watching it now is a much different experience. The movie is much more dramatic and serious than I remember. The feeling of dread pervades the film with no real relief, comic or otherwise, as the story moves forward. The ending is famous and not always taken seriously but it sure looks like the filmmakers were playing it straight. I found it more effecting and less silly than I did as a kid. The movie does a great job telling the story with restraint except for the occasional shock moments and has the typical 1950s bit of moralizing at the end.
Recommended, though this has not aged as well as other films.
Why not follow The Fly with...
The Web (1947) directed by Michael Gordon
Lawyer Bob Regan (Edmund O'Brien) is hired by industrialist Andrew Colby (Vincent Price) as a bodyguard to protect him from a partner who just got out of a five-year prison stint for embezzling their company. Colby is paranoid and Regan is desperate. Both are enamored of Colby's secretary, Noel Faraday (Ella Raines), who seems to be deep in Colby's pockets. Regan is just as interested in her as in protecting Colby. The ex-con shows up the next night and Regan shoots him when he discovers Colby and the ex-con wrestling over a gun. What seems like an open-and-shut case of self defense gets spun out into a more intriguing situation by Lieutenant Damico (William Bendix), who doesn't quite buy into what Colby and company are selling.
This has all the characters of a typical noir--the femme fatale, the sucker, the criminal mastermind, the relentless cop. Raines's character is a bit ambiguous. Is she scheming with Colby or is she really interested in Regan? The performances are good, especially Bendix, giving the proceedings an edge. The plot has some nice complications and an extremely tough situation that Regan has fallen into. Viewers are kept guessing how things will turn out.
Recommended--a solid film noir I hadn't heard of before.
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) directed by Roger Corman
A late entry into the Corman/Price Edgar Allan Poe cycle. Price is Verden Fell, recently widowed. He buries his wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd) in the ruins of an abbey next to his mansion. The local minister objects as they are digging the grave, claiming she was a very evil woman, but Verden will have nothing of it. After that's done, the story skips a few years ahead. Verden has become a recluse. A local fox hunt brings Lady Rowena (also Elizabeth Shepherd) onto the grounds where she is thrown from her horse. The horse was spooked by a black cat hanging out on Ligeia's tombstone. Verden comes out, brings Rowena into the house, and tends to her sprained ankle. They fall in love but that cat keeps showing up and causing problems for Rowena. And Verden is not as forthcoming as he could be about how he spends his nights.
The story has a great set-up but the energy flags in the middle. The show goes through the motions, often with style, but it does not hit the viewers like earlier works in the Poe cycle. On the plus side, there's a lot of outdoor scenes that look great, including the fox hunt. It's good enough but average by comparison to other outings.
Mildly recommended.
Leave Her to Heaven (1945) directed by John Stahl
Writer Richard Harland (Cornell Wilde) meets Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) on a train ride. She's reading his latest book and they have a little flirty conversation. They are both going to her parents' home though they had never met before. She's there to scatter the ashes of her beloved father. He's just visiting the parents. He instantly falls for her and she plays along. She's so interested that she jilts her fiance, District Attorney Russ Quinton (Vincent Price). He flies across the country to confront her but she remains firm, claiming she's already engaged to Harland. After Quinton leaves, she proposes to Harland. They are happy for a bit, though she gets frustrated with the extended family on both sides. Harland has a crippled brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) who they take care of, but most of the care falls on her shoulders. She wants to be the ideal wife, cooking and cleaning herself. The situation gets worse when the trio moves to Harland's remote fishing cabin where another guy, the caretaker, provides another fifth wheel to their marriage. And her mom and sister show up for a visit, increasing the tension for Ellen, and thereby everyone around them. Terrible things happen from there.
The movie at first seems like a romantic melodrama with its lush Technicolor and the sweeping vistas. But it quickly shifts into film noir as Ellen gets more manipulative and does horrible things to people. Rather than an urban crime drama, this noir is more upper class and isolated from the larger world. Tierney gives a great performance, never over-performing or getting melodramatic. Her control is amazing and horrifying to see. Price has a relatively minor role, showing up for one short scene at the beginning and then for an extended court scene at the end. He does a great job with the little he has. The rest of the cast is good and the story is riveting.
Recommended.
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