TERROR IN THE WAX MUSEUM

US, 1973, 94 minutes, Colour.
Ray Milland, Broderick Crawford, Elsa Lanchester, Louis Hayward, John Carradine, Shani Wallis, Maurice Evans, Patric Knowles.
Directed by George Fenady.

Terror In The Wax Museum is a low-budget but quite entertaining murder mystery with overtones of horror, echoes of Mystery of the Wax Museum and House of Wax. Made by the Fenady brothers who have made a number of such films, the film boasts a cast of old veterans who enjoy themselves thoroughly in this costume melodramatic romp. The overtones of the waxworks and the macabre characters also add to the atmosphere of the film. Forgettable but quite entertaining while on the screen.

1. The evocation of the title, the memory of films about the was museum? Expectation and fulfilment?

2. A small budget horror film? American production about Victorian London? Recreation of locations, the wax museum, costumes and sets? The use of a number of veteran stars?

3. The horror aspects of the film in respect to the terror, the wax museum, to the people exhibited and the murderers, psychological monsters, the actual murders related to Jack the Ripper? Audience liking for this kind of horror suggestion?

4. The film as a murder mystery, puzzle, sufficient clues, the indications to Flexner? The ultimate revelation of the real villain?

5. The atmosphere of Victorian London, the streets and houses, manors? The museum of wax, its lighting, sinister? The statues and their seeming to come alive? Jack the Ripper and the associations with the murders? The real murders and their horror?

6. The introduction to Dupree and his owning the museum, his death? Dupree as a creator?

7. The arrival of Julia, her obnoxious manner, her breeding, protectiveness of Meg? Meg as the heroine? As bait for the murderer? A happy ending? Conventional heroine?

8. Amos Burns as the burly American, the particular American traits, wanting to buy, the inevitability of his being a victim?

9. The character of Flexner, as an object of suspicion? Relationship with Frowley? Frowley and his genial attitude, his links with the museum? The irony of the revelation of the truth?

10. The contribution of Karaov, his death?

11. Laurie and her singing, her role in the hotel, the reason for her murder?

12. The presentation of the police, methods of solving the mystery? Enjoyable if conventional horror murder mystery?