1924·Fantasy·1h 23m
7.0
★
A poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper. While writing, the poet and the daughter of the owner, Eva, fantasize the fantastic stories and fall in love for each other.
Directed by Leo Birinski and Paul Leni
insanity
jack the ripper
anthology
wax museum
torture chamber
psychotronic
expressionism
german expressionism
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Emil Jannings
Harun al Raschid
Conrad Veidt
Ivan the Terrible
William Dieterle
The Poet / Assad the Baker / Russian Prince
Werner Krauss
Jack the Ripper / Spring-Heeled Jack
Olga Belajeff
Eva-Maimune-Eine Bojarin
John Gottowt
Owner of the Waxworks
Georg John
Owner of the Panoptikums
Ernst Legal
Poison-Maker of the Czar
Paul Biensfeldt
Grand Vizier
Crew
Paul Leni
Director
Paul Leni
Art Direction
William Dieterle
Assistant Director
Alfred Junge
Assistant Art Director
Popular Reviews
15 reviews
Catherine
6.0★ · 10/30/25
Hooptober 12
6 Countries - Germany
A fascinating display of German Expressionism, though I struggled to understand why this film was labeled as a “horror,” even within the context of its early-1920s release date. The story and imagery surrounding a male poet weaving fantastic, romantic fiction for a waxwork exhibitor’s daughter was certainly surreal, but this early example of an anthology film never reached anything remotely resembling spooky or scary. Glad to have watched it, at least!
6 Countries - Germany
A fascinating display of German Expressionism, though I struggled to understand why this film was labeled as a “horror,” even within the context of its early-1920s release date. The story and imagery surrounding a male poet weaving fantastic, romantic fiction for a waxwork exhibitor’s daughter was certainly surreal, but this early example of an anthology film never reached anything remotely resembling spooky or scary. Glad to have watched it, at least!
Hooptober 12
6 Countries - Germany
A fascinating display of German Expressionism, though I struggled to understand why this film was labeled as a “horror,” even within the context of its early-1920s release date. The story and imagery surrounding a male poet weaving fantastic, romantic fiction for a waxwork exhibitor’s daughter was certainly surreal, but this early example of an anthology film never reached anything remotely resembling spooky or scary. Glad to have watched it, at least!
6 Countries - Germany
A fascinating display of German Expressionism, though I struggled to understand why this film was labeled as a “horror,” even within the context of its early-1920s release date. The story and imagery surrounding a male poet weaving fantastic, romantic fiction for a waxwork exhibitor’s daughter was certainly surreal, but this early example of an anthology film never reached anything remotely resembling spooky or scary. Glad to have watched it, at least!
Al
7.0★ · 10/27/25
"My pond-lily, have you a hiding place for a fat man?"
I absolutely adore silent films and anthologies, so I would have imagined I would have liked Waxworks a lot more. Maybe it warrants a second viewing
I absolutely adore silent films and anthologies, so I would have imagined I would have liked Waxworks a lot more. Maybe it warrants a second viewing
"My pond-lily, have you a hiding place for a fat man?"
I absolutely adore silent films and anthologies, so I would have imagined I would have liked Waxworks a lot more. Maybe it warrants a second viewing
I absolutely adore silent films and anthologies, so I would have imagined I would have liked Waxworks a lot more. Maybe it warrants a second viewing
Sarah
5.0★ · 09/27/25
Hooptober 12: 9/34
Happy Hooptober!
I went into this with high hopes. Visually it's stunning- I am a sucker for that signature German Expressionist look. And I always enjoy watching Conrad Veidt. But other than that I unfortunately got nothing from this. I feel that the first two anthology segments go on for too long. It's very rare that I am bored by a silent film, but this one did sadly. A rare miss from Paul Leni.
Criteria met:
decade- 1920s (7/9)
A silent film
Happy Hooptober!
I went into this with high hopes. Visually it's stunning- I am a sucker for that signature German Expressionist look. And I always enjoy watching Conrad Veidt. But other than that I unfortunately got nothing from this. I feel that the first two anthology segments go on for too long. It's very rare that I am bored by a silent film, but this one did sadly. A rare miss from Paul Leni.
Criteria met:
decade- 1920s (7/9)
A silent film
Hooptober 12: 9/34
Happy Hooptober!
I went into this with high hopes. Visually it's stunning- I am a sucker for that signature German Expressionist look. And I always enjoy watching Conrad Veidt. But other than that I unfortunately got nothing from this. I feel that the first two anthology segments go on for too long. It's very rare that I am bored by a silent film, but this one did sadly. A rare miss from Paul Leni.
Criteria met:
decade- 1920s (7/9)
A silent film
Happy Hooptober!
I went into this with high hopes. Visually it's stunning- I am a sucker for that signature German Expressionist look. And I always enjoy watching Conrad Veidt. But other than that I unfortunately got nothing from this. I feel that the first two anthology segments go on for too long. It's very rare that I am bored by a silent film, but this one did sadly. A rare miss from Paul Leni.
Criteria met:
decade- 1920s (7/9)
A silent film
christy
9.0★ · 05/19/25
3 different stories with a short introduction. I liked this a lot, it has a lot of very german expressionist looking sets (which makes sense.) Conrad Veidt is really cool as Ivan the Terrible, so is the man in the first story (forgot his name😅) The Jack the Ripper sequence is short but has some really cool effects. Some of the tinting and toning used in this looked especially beautiful to me, I’m sure most of that credit goes to the people making the digital restoration but those blues and purples are incredible.
3 different stories with a short introduction. I liked this a lot, it has a lot of very german expressionist looking sets (which makes sense.) Conrad Veidt is really cool as Ivan the Terrible, so is the man in the first story (forgot his name😅) The Jack the Ripper sequence is short but has some really cool effects. Some of the tinting and toning used in this looked especially beautiful to me, I’m sure most of that credit goes to the people making the digital restoration but those blues and purples are incredible.
Erik Olsson
7.0★ · 07/17/23
A peculiar little curiosity of a German Expressionism anthology. Enjoyment of the film will definitely depend on how you feel about each part, the first Al-Rashid story is rather overlong and not the most interesting, the second Ivan the Terrible story is actually really good with a terrific Conrad Veidt performance, and a tiny coda on Jack the Ripper/Spring-Heeled Jack which is fairly well-done surreal horror but far too short. Lopsided, yes, but the overall look of the film is pure Expressionism and is worthwhile for that alone, along with Veidt's performance.
A peculiar little curiosity of a German Expressionism anthology. Enjoyment of the film will definitely depend on how you feel about each part, the first Al-Rashid story is rather overlong and not the most interesting, the second Ivan the Terrible story is actually really good with a terrific Conrad Veidt performance, and a tiny coda on Jack the Ripper/Spring-Heeled Jack which is fairly well-done surreal horror but far too short. Lopsided, yes, but the overall look of the film is pure Expressionism and is worthwhile for that alone, along with Veidt's performance.