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House Of Wax-Vincent's Career Path Set In Stone

posted 15 years ago by babettegillette
10 replies | jump to latest

IMHO, this is the movie that started Vincent on the path to becoming the second greatest horror star up until now(Boris Karloff is #1).

[–] RARanieri 14 years ago

<<< IMHO, this is the movie that started Vincent on the path to becoming the second greatest horror star up until now(Boris Karloff is #1). >>>

I agree with you on one level, but on another level you are selling Vincent Price short! Price had wonderful comic-timing and could be very funny. Also he sometimes played the hero, and he played one very well. He was the hero in the original movie "The Fly".

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Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. - Mark Twain.

[–] babettegillette 13 years ago

Absolutely agree! His career would have been less memorable if he had held out for only drama or standard comedy.

We are all fortunate that he bit his lip, took the money, and appeared in numerous horror/sci-fi vehicles. He always did his best no matter how low the budget or if any the script was horrid.

[–] Harold_Robbins 12 years ago

There's a tendency to take actors such as Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee just a bit less seriously than some others because they specialized in the horror genre, whereas they were all actually very versatile and proved it during their long careers.

"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."

[–] BaronVonSwollen 10 years ago

There were other stars of the genre that were fairly one-dimensional through out their careers, though. John Carradine, Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., and especially Bela Lugosi. That guy that played Freddy Kruger falls into that league.

It also doesn't help when the only 2 actors ever to win Oscars for horror films are Frederick March(in 1932) and Anthony Hopkins(in 1991).

It's only a movie...

[–] fritzfassbender 10 years ago

There were other stars of the genre that were fairly one-dimensional through out their careers, John Carradine, Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., and especially Bela Lugosi. That guy that played Freddy Kruger falls into that league.

John Carradine - He provided strong support in some of the greatest westerns of all time and a powerhouse performance in The Grapes Of Wrath, one of the most critically lauded films of all time.

Lionel Atwill - He's generally considered to be the best Moriarty in film history, and made numerous big-budget films with Marlene Dietrich and Errol Flynn.

Lon Chaney Jr. - Even a cursory glance at his filmography would make you aware of the variety of projects he was a part of.

Bela Lugosi - I'm sure you translate 'one-dimensional' as "He always talked in that Dracula voice."

That guy that played Freddy Kruger - His name's Robert Englund, it would have taken as much time to find that out as it did to type that phrase.

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[–] littlenightmusic-15077 9 years ago

Before he was Freddy Kruger -- Robert England had quite a great list of credits as an actor. I still remember him as my favorite "lizard" in the mini series and V!

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2755) a month ago

Agreed, this is a career defining movie, and that statement is coming from someone who has watched almost all of Vincent Price's films up to that point. Literally, thanks to YouTube and streaming the only pre-1953 films of his I have not seen are Forever Amber (in which all of Vincent's scenes were cut), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (in which he does a voice only), and Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (only one available copy, the quality of which is way too crummy to attempt to watch). I have seen all the others, and none compare to House of Wax. It definitely launched his horror film career.