Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Vincent Price's House of Wax Hits Blu-ray in 3D

Between this and Scream's Vincent Price Collection fans of ol' Egghead are going to be broke this fall.


"Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has announced the 3D Blu-ray release of André de Toth's House of Wax (1953), which stars Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Paul Picerni and a young Charles Bronson. The 60th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release arrives on October 1st, and features 3D and 2D presentations minted from a 4K scan and restoration, a new featurette and the original 1933 film, Mystery of the Wax Museum.

Official Synopsis: Professor Henry Jarrod (Price) is the owner and figure sculptor in a wax museum whose specialty is historic figures. When he and his business partner, Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) quarrel over the choice of exhibits displayed, Burke suggests it would be more profitable to burn down the museum in order to obtain the insurance money. As they fight, the museum burns and Jarrod is left for dead. It's not until much later at a new museum that the fate of Jarrod and the mystery of how the lifelike waxed figures are created becomes gruesomely evident.

In 1953, House of Wax was the first color 3D feature released by a major studio, and quickly became a box office hit. If adjusted to today's gross, it would have brought in more than $401 million, placing it among the top 100 highest grossing films of all time. It no doubt paved the way for a 3D boom over the next several years as well, during which fifty 3D features and some two dozen shorts and cartoons were released.

The film also marked Vincent Price''s first major starring horror role and changed the course of his career. Thanks to advanced technology and the expert work of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging (MPI), audiences will now be able to experience the classic mystery shocker as it was originally seen in theaters. Originally designed to lure audiences away from their TV sets, the 3D involved in the film's original presentation utilized a "left-eye/right-eye" dual projection process and polarized glasses, the basis for what is seen today. MPI''s work on House of Wax includes a 4K scan, and a full restoration of the two "eyes," as well as perfect 3D image alignment.

Special features include:


  • Expert Commentary
  • All New Featurette: "House of Wax: Unlike Anything You've Seen Before"
  • "Round-the-Clock Premiere: Coast Hails House of Wax"
  • Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933 Warner Bros. Feature Film)
  • Theatrical Trailer"

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