Nightmare in Wax (1969)

Director: Bud Townsend

Writer: Rex Carlton

Composer: ???

Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Anne Helm, Scott Brady, Berry Kroeger, Victoria Carroll, Phillip Baird, John 'Bud' Cardos, Hollis Morrison, James Forrest, Virgil Frye

More info: IMDb

Tagline: You can't tell the living from the dead!

Plot: The disfigured curator of a wax museum murders his enemies and then uses their bodies as exhibits in his museum.

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Geez, the budget's so low they couldn't afford a color movie poster.  Actually it looks OK but you can tell it's a low budget knockoff variation on THE HOUSE OF WAX (1953) and not a good one at that.  Mitchell overacts as he often would in his later years but then, in his defense, the production kind of calls for it.  It'd be worse, I guess, if he played it like a master thespian.  The pacing is slow as you'd expect.  There's very little gore and no nudity. I forget the character's name but the actor who plays Mitchell's assistant who has an alcohol problem is great and he's easily the best part of the picture. I thought I recognized the director's name.  He also did the odd ALICE IN WONDERLAND: AN X-RATED MUSICAL FANTASY (1976).  At least that one had musical numbers...and hardcore sex, either of which would have been welcome in this although I don't need to see an aging Cameron Mitchell naked.  Hell, I don't think Mrs. Mitchell needed to see an aging Cameron Mitchell naked.  There's no need to see this picture as it's not doing anything new, interesting or fun. The Mill Creek set called Grindhouse Greats Collection offers a pretty good anamorphic widescreen print with no extras.