A young poet is hired by a sideshow museum to write publicity stories for the waxworks’ most notorious figures.

 

Waxworks is an examination of tyranny in a three parts anthology film, with a frame story that anchors into the chapters that follow. Also an excellent example of German cinema made when the country was at its peak of cinematic artistry of Expressionism where Leni uses it more to fashion exotic fantastic worlds. The film is considered the last pure distillation of the form, in which visual distortion, chiaroscuro, exaggerated staccato acting, and nightmarish atmosphere, seem to evoke the angst-ridden German collective consciousness of its time.

 

From a technical standpoint, the film is a marvel. The set design by Paul Leni is one moment opulent, the next expressionistic and always fascinating. Clearly influenced by both Caligari and Nosferatu, Waxworks is nonetheless exceptional in its own right.

Murnau Film Institute