House of Wax (1953)
Horror, Crime • 1h 28m
Director: André de Toth
Cast: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Paul Picerni, Roy Roberts, Angela Clarke, Paul Cavanagh, Dabbs Greer, Charles Bronson, Reggie Rymal, Oliver Blake, Larri Thomas, Joanne Brown, Steve Carruthers, Leo Curley, Dan Dowling, Frank Ferguson, Stuart Hall, Mary Lou Holloway, Jack Kenney, Mike Lally, Lyle Latell, Richard Lightner, Philo McCullough, Jack Mower, Eddie Parks, Waclaw Rekwart, Grandon Rhodes, Riza Royce, Sammy Shack, Norman Stevans, Philip Tonge, Merry Townsend, Sid Troy, Ruth Warren, Ruth Whitney, Shirley Whitney, Jack Wise, Jack Woody, Charles Hibbs, Trude Wyler, Nedrick Young
Best English-friendly & video release
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Updated 4 months ago
About the film
A sculptor opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures, but quickly runs into trouble when his business partner demands the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profits.
- Featured Lists
- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 2014
- Alternative Titles
- The Wax Works, House of Wax
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Elaine May
Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:
The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.
Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K / Capelight 4K
1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered
Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice
Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible
Director: Dennis Hopper
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.
DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: André de Toth
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: André de Toth
Sources: cinema.ucla.edu (opens in a new tab)
New UCLA restoration from Original Camera Negative
4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Vincent Sherman
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: George Pal
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Compton Bennett
4K restoration from original technicolor negatives
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: William Dieterle
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
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