House of Wax is a 1953 American mystery-horror film directed by Andre de Toth and released by Warner Bros. A remake of the studio's own 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 corpses 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. Man in the Dark, released by Columbia Pictures, was the first major-studio black-and-white 3D feature and premiered two days before House of Wax.

Plot

In New York City during the early 1900s, talented sculptor Professor Henry Jarrod runs a wax museum that features historical figures who have met grisly ends. His business partner, Matthew Burke, wants to end their partnership due to Jarrod's refusal to make sensational exhibits, such as those that draw crowds to their competitors. Wealthy art critic Sidney Wallace wants to buy out Burke on his return from Egypt in three months. Impatient, Burke sets the museum on fire for the insurance money. Jarrod attempts to stop Burke, but Burke douses him in kerosene and leaves him to die in the fire.