When one looks back over the years, the studio best associated with the golden age of horror more than any other is Universal. It kick started the horror boom in the 30's with its classic series; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman, Invisible Man and The Bride of Frankenstein. Universal had been the first of Hollywood's giant studios to take a cue from the great German films of the era; notably The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Vampyr. Warner Brother's, miffed at missing out on the increasingly lucrative horror bounty, desperately sought a "monster" of their own, and they finally found an acceptable face for WB's horror in Lionel Atwell's deranged sculptor of the Wax Museum.

The story begins in fogbound London in 1921 where genius sculptor Atwill appears to finally be nearing a career breakthrough when a scribe for one of the cities prominent papers is filled with admiration upon seeing his work. Elation is short-lived for Atwill as his business partner turns nasty and decides to torch the entire workshop in order to collect a hefty insurance. The sculptor's dreams melt away hideously as the flames lick the effigies to a smouldering pulp.

Atwill is left for dead in the fire but emerges in New York City 12 years later as the crippled proprietor of the cities new Wax Museum where he has directed his devoted students into creating wax effigies more startlingly realistic than ever before. A feisty, fast talking blonde reporter - partly by intuition and partly by luck - latches on to a lead and starts sniffing about in the Museum. Voltaire looks distinctly similar to a recently murdered judge and Joan of Arc bears a striking resemblance to another recent "suicide" victim whose body had mysteriously disappeared from the morgue.

Unfortunately the proprietor of the museum, the wheelchair bound Lionel Atwill, has an eye for the fiancé of one of his students, and not without reason - she is the spitting image of his beloved Marie Antoinette - his most treasured wax creation that had withered away in the fire and that he yearned to "recreate". Fay Wray is invited for a modelling session by the scheming sculptor, who is keen to bestow immortality upon her, and we all know that in horror movies that spells trouble, deep, deep trouble. Events build to a thrilling climax featuring one of the most ghastly unmasking scenes in the history of cinema!

The film has some very effective passages where Curtiz has avoided using any sound at all. These are scenes where the director has the audience collectively holding their breath just in case they attract the attention of the horrendous monstrosity on screen. This superbly effective use of complete silence during certain scenes results in a level of almost unbearable tension during two passages of the movie. One when the hideously disfigured Atwell appears to seek out the body for his Joan of Arc and another when the reporter is stuck in a room with the monstrous Atwill arriving to attend to his dark deeds. Michael Curtiz, better known for his efforts on Casablanca, has been clearly influenced by the German 'expressionist' style so evident in Dr. Caligari and its ilk. Shadows creep from all sorts of strangely angular sets creating a weird disorienting atmosphere and there are sequences of genuine horror and suspense shot in the style of the silent film.

Glenda Farrell is immensely likeable as the feisty reporter and immediately has the audiences concern while she goes scratching around dark corners. Fay Wray, the original scream queen, doesn't have much else to do but that, and claw at Atwill's ghastly face in that memorable unmasking scene. Colour was still in its infancy in those days and this film employed the earliest form of technicolour, yet the result is quite wonderful with Atwills apparition appearing more ghastly then possible in those eerie brownish green hues.

Lionel Atwill is nothing short of brilliant as the soft spoken sculptor who is transformed by destiny and obsession into a deranged murderer. The film was remade using 3D in the 50's as The House of Wax and it transformed its star Vincent Price into the biggest horror star of the post Karloff era. House of Wax was a phenomenal box office sensation shattering records along its highly successful theatrical run yet it isn't in any way an improvement on this original, just a fairly faithful re-enactment. Time perhaps for another update, with Gary Oldman in the wheelchair this time around!?