Vincent Price Stars in the Classic "House of Wax" -Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- for the first time in my career- I am proud to be presenting one of the most famous horror films of the ‘50s- notable for being presented in 3-D ( but not here tonight!) and legendary as one of Vincent Price’s most memorable roles- be prepared as you enter the “House of Wax”!

It’s the early 1900s, and we visit the New York museum of Professor Henry Jarrod- a gifted sculptor who prefers to create historic tableaus instead of the sensationalistic type displays found in most wax museums. His business partner, Matthew Burke, however, feels these cultural displays don’t bring in enough revenue- and, when Jarrod refuses to go the more shocking horrific route, Burke decides the best profit would be via insurance money- and burns the museum down, with Jarrod trapped inside and thought to be killed in the conflagration!

Years later, we see that Jarrod has miraculously survived, though now wheelchair bound, his hands crippled and unable to sculpt any longer. He has, with the help of some assistants, including the mute sculptor Igor, built a new wax museum, but, this time, it includes the “house of horrors” type exhibits that Jarrod used to shun.

Meanwhile, a cloaked, disfigured killer has been lurking in the streets of New York. He kills Cathy, the fiancée of Jarrod’s old partner Burke- who appears to have committed suicide- and the young woman’s body mysteriously disappears from the morgue!

Cathy’s friend Sue, who found her friend’s body and came face to frightening face with the killer, joins her sculptor boyfriend Scott when he visits the new museum- and is bothered by the fact that the wax figure of Joan of Arc strongly resembles her late friend.  Jarrod wheels up in his chair and explains that photos of the dead girl were used as reference in creating the figure. He also suggests that she- Sue- is the perfect model for a new figure of Marie Antoinette, since she has a striking resemblance to his original version that burned in the fire.

However, Sue is not convinced- and sneaks into the museum to inspect the Joan of Arc statue- leading to a shocking confrontation that could see her added as a permanent part of the museum collection- and subtracted from the land of the living!

This 1953 film has beautiful color, and an amazing cast, with, of course, Price as Prof. Jarrod, Charles Bronson ( as Charles Buchinsky) as his mute lackey Igor, Carolyn Jones, the future “Addams Family” Morticia , and more- we’ll tell you about the cast, and have plenty of information on the production, including an odd irony regarding the director Andre DeToth. And- yes, you’ll see the famed “paddleball” scene, which may have been impressive in 3-D, but now seems – oh- kind of silly!

 "House of Wax" opens its doors on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time- if you need help finding where and when it airs in your area, check your local listings ,or at www.metv.com . The many fans live-Tweeting during the show ,using the hashtag  #svengoolie , have been keeping our program among the top trending items nationally on Twitter every Saturday night, and MeTV encourages you to do the same! For our viewers in the Chicago area, at 11 am on WCIU, the U, we have an encore showing of “Dr. Cyclops” for you to enjoy.

Last weekend we had two great days at the C2E2 comics and entertainment convention- you’ll be seeing some of the fun we had in future shows. Next weekend, we’ll do our annual visit to the Brookfield Zoo Spaghetti Dinner event on Friday, and be the guest of the Discover Tinley Park Expo on Saturday. You’ll find information under the “appearances” tab on this site.

Please join us tonight for Vincent Price, ready to “wax on- wax off” as victims are offed when the wax goes on!