German director Paul Leni’s WAXWORKS has taken a long time in coming before the public in presentable form. Now that it is finally here on Blu-Ray, there is cause for much rejoicing. As is often the case with most anthology films, the parts are greater than the whole. There are three episodes involving figures in a wax museum which are linked by the framing story of a writer creating stories about them. Are they scary? No, but at least one of them, IVAN THE TERRIBLE with Conrad Veidt, is genuinely disturbing while another, JACK THE RIPPER with Werner Krauss, boasts the most expressionistic sets since THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI .
The only surviving footage is missing 25 minutes and as a result, the stories vary in length. The longest sequence features Emil Jannings in an Arabian Nights setting. The shortest is the last with Werner Kraus. The Jannings is mostly comic in tone and surprisingly erotic thanks to Olga Belajeff. who is the romantic lead in all three stories. William Dieterle who plays the writer and three other characters would later give up acting and become a major director in Hollywood (THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE DEVIL & DANIEL WEBSTER, PORTRAIT OF JENNIE) during the 1930s and 1940s.
This is the first time this film has ever looked this good. It was restored from various prints and has been properly tinted. There are two different scores to choose from (one piano, the other instrumental) and both are effective especially in the IVAN sequence. WAXWORKS is not a great film but it is an important one. It is one of the first horror anthology films and boasts spectacular (and deliberately exaggerated) set designs. It won’t scare you but it will entertain you especially if you’re a fan of silent movies. Yet another top notch offering from Flicker Alley. Check out their two other Paul Leni restorations THE MAN WHO LAUGHS and THE LAST WARNING.
The Capsule Critic 