Revenge is mine saith the magician, and here, he's on a quest for revenge against the people who have prevented him from utilizing his own magic trick invention. Those who stand in his way meet brutal ends which includes having their head sawed off, being burnt to death and other means of torturous demises. Hiding behind the mask of several of the victims is the victim of fraud himself, the former master of wax dummies who has switched to trickery in this variation of a story he had just done. You guessed it, Vincent Price, the tall, gangly seemingly milquetoast who discovers in the middle of a performance as he tries to introduce his newest invention that he's under the thumb of his employer whom he despises for stealing his wife. A clever bit of trickery turns revenge into a gory end for the rascal, and when there's murder (no matter what the motivations), madness is sure to follow for the perpetrator. Enter ex-wife Eva Gabor who finds that blackmail doesn't quite always end in a cash settlement and magician rival John Emery who is really burnt up about the threat he has to his title as the world's greatest illusionist.
With the help of a nosy murder mystery writer (a very funny Lenita Lane), New York detective Patrick O'Neal investigates the common fingerprints found at the scene of a murder in Lane's boarding house and all doesn't add up. Murderers gain confidence and become clumsy as they begin to think they're fool-proof, and in the case of Price, it's only a matter of time before he slips up. There isn't really a mystery here, only the fun of watching Price getting away with his gruesome actions and the knowledge that his retribution will be equally as gory as the crimes he's already committed. Mary Murphy plays his assistant who also slowly becomes aware of Price's nefarious plots while Don Randolph is slimy as Price's boss whose sneaky actions send Price over the edge.
Certainly not as colorful as its predecessor "House of Wax" (made the year before and certainly the inspiration for this), the film still is quite enjoyable and has some genuine thrills that are bone-tingling. The mixture of comedy and horror always made even the most maudlin of Price's films seem much better, and in the case of "The Mad Magician", there are some moments that will live in your cineramic memory long after you've seen this film. There's a very funny conclusion which will have you in hoards of laughter after the gruesome climax that came just before.
With the help of a nosy murder mystery writer (a very funny Lenita Lane), New York detective Patrick O'Neal investigates the common fingerprints found at the scene of a murder in Lane's boarding house and all doesn't add up. Murderers gain confidence and become clumsy as they begin to think they're fool-proof, and in the case of Price, it's only a matter of time before he slips up. There isn't really a mystery here, only the fun of watching Price getting away with his gruesome actions and the knowledge that his retribution will be equally as gory as the crimes he's already committed. Mary Murphy plays his assistant who also slowly becomes aware of Price's nefarious plots while Don Randolph is slimy as Price's boss whose sneaky actions send Price over the edge.
Certainly not as colorful as its predecessor "House of Wax" (made the year before and certainly the inspiration for this), the film still is quite enjoyable and has some genuine thrills that are bone-tingling. The mixture of comedy and horror always made even the most maudlin of Price's films seem much better, and in the case of "The Mad Magician", there are some moments that will live in your cineramic memory long after you've seen this film. There's a very funny conclusion which will have you in hoards of laughter after the gruesome climax that came just before.