1966's "Nightmare in Wax" and "Blood of Dracula's Castle" were destined to be paired together theatrically as both were scripted by producer Rex Carlton, whose May 1968 suicide resulted in their May 1969 issue under Crown International Pictures, one the first collaboration between John Carradine and Al Adamson, the other a rare Hollywood lead for Cameron Mitchell shot three months later in November 1966 as "Monster of the Wax Museum" or "Crimes in the Wax Museum." Even more than its human star, the film serves as a tribute to the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, which existed from 1962 to 2005, seen to great advantage during its heyday with figures of stars like Rudolph Valentino and Gary Cooper (the building was eventually demolished in 2016). Berry Kroeger's Max Black is the head of Paragon Studios, in love with top starlet Marie Morgan (Anne Helm) and jealous of her various relationships, but sent into a blind rage at her engagement to Mitchell's makeup artist Vincent Rinard, tossing a glass of brandy into his rival's face while lighting a cigarette, his head engulfed in flames (half his face a bloody mess), to leave him a bitter, scarred misanthrope newly ensconced as wax museum proprietor. Though he keeps his former fiancée at a distance, Rinard has already laid the groundwork for Black's destruction, using a serum to induce paralysis in his kidnapped victims, all talents employed by Paragon Studios, turning them into rigid statues for his museum that can still be seen blinking on occasion. Scott Brady's Detective Haskell may be quick to recognize the figures as missing persons but he utterly fails to connect the dots in regard to his going nowhere investigation. Eventually the madman captures his longtime nemesis and taunts him about his impending fate, until a last second twist renders the whole thing rather pointless. Unlike those classic performances of Lionel Atwill in "Mystery of the Wax Museum" or Vincent Price in "House of Wax," Mitchell commands not an ounce of compassion as he goes about his sadistic business in self serving fashion, frequently talking to the inanimate figures and framing Max Black to mislead the easily duped cops. It's no better or worse than John Carradine's 1973 "Terror in the Wax Museum," which at least boasts a superior cast (Ray Milland, Elsa Lanchester) though it's really more a simple whodunit. This also marked the debut feature for TV director Bud Townsend, who actually worked with Carradine on a 1961 episode of DEATH VALLEY DAYS, "Miracle at Boot Hill," in which the venerable veteran was suitably cast as a mysterious stranger who announces that he is an emissary of the Lord able to restore life to the deceased, which does not sit well with the townspeople who have reason to let the dead on Boot Hill stay buried. Townsend had to wait six years for a second movie, the not uninteresting "The Folks at Red Wolf Inn," producer Michael Macready's follow up to his Count Yorga films starring Robert Quarry, before one mainstream success with Cathy Lee Crosby's cult item "Coach." It was a noteworthy period of genre outings for Cameron Mitchell ("Blood and Black Lace," "Maneater of Hydra," "Autopsia de un Fantasma") that preceded his casting on the popular TV Western THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, effectively leaving him in heavy demand for low budget horrors by the following decade (not such a bad thing for an actor who twice was forced to declare bankruptcy). The part of Vincent Rinard was hardly a stretch but one that eerily foreshadowed his most notorious vehicle, 1977's "The Toolbox Murders," in each case offering up a warped murderer who enjoys terrorizing his victims before dispatching them. The stalking of pretty Victoria Carroll in particular recalls the fate of gorgeous Kelly Nichols from that later film, a larger role than usual for Victoria, whose mostly comedic career continued well into the 21st century. It's a mid 60s vibe in her introductory sequence, featuring the hip sounds of The T-Bones doing "Look for the Rainbows" to the engaging gyrations of Rini Martin and The Gazzari Dancers in chic go-go boots. This band had just scored a #3 hit months earlier with the instrumental "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)," three members of which would soon become Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo, and Tommy Reynolds), later enjoying more chart successes with "Don't Pull Your Love" (#4 in 1971) and "Fallin' in Love" (topping the Billboard charts in 1975).
