House of Wax is a 1953 American period mystery-horror film directed by Andre DeToth. A remake by Warner Bros. of their 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum, it stars Vincent Price as a disfigured sculptor who repopulates his destroyed wax museum by murdering people and using their wax-coated remains as displays. The film premiered in New York on April 10, 1953, and had a general release on April 25, making it the first 3D film with stereophonic sound to be presented in a regular theater and the first color 3D feature film from a major American studio (Columbia Pictures' Man in the Dark, the first major-studio black-and-white 3D feature, premiered two days before House of Wax).

Plot

In New York City in the early 1900s, Professor Henry Jarrod is a talented sculptor who runs a wax museum. He creates wax statues of historical figures, but his business partner, Matthew Burke, is frustrated that Jarrod will not make more sensational exhibits, like those that draw crowds to their competitors, and wants to end their partnership. A friend brings wealthy art critic Sidney Wallace to see the museum, and Wallace indicates he may be interested in buying Burke out when he gets back from Egypt in three months, but Burke says he needs money sooner than that for another investment opportunity and suggests burning down the museum to collect a $25,000 insurance policy. To Jarrod's horror, Burke then starts a fire, which spreads rapidly, and the two men fight while Jarrod's wax masterworks melt. Burke gets the better of Jarrod and leaves, and Jarrod is still inside when the building explodes.