Pierre de Lionne (Henry Roussel) is at a late-night supper club with his friends when a discussion with his friend Jacques (Emile Tramont) about the nature of fear is raised. Pierre tells his friend that he doesn’t experience fear and that the feeling is unknown to him. Jacques counters that he thinks Pierre can’t stay in “the most sinister place” for an entire night. The two men make a wager of $500.
The two men go out into the night to find the most sinister place. Jacques settles on a wax museum. Pierre agrees and the two pay the museum owner (Henri Gouget) to let Pierre stay there until dawn. At first things are fine but eventually Pierre succumbs to the eeriness of the place with disastrous results.
“The Man with Wax Faces” AKA “Figures de Cire” was released in 1914 and was directed by Maurice Tourneur. It is a French silent horror short and is about eleven minutes long.
The plot of the film is reminiscent of many movies where the protagonist must spend the night in a haunted something or other.
At one time the film was believed to be lost. A damaged copy was discovered in 2007. Restoration was done by Lobster Films. There is still some deterioration that could not be repaired, however, what was saved was done with care and the existing damage actually adds some panache to the film. The movie is believed to be one of the first horror films, if not the first, involving a wax museum.
It’s actually not a bad little film. Melodramatic, yes, but that adds to the Grand Guignol feel of the film. A "Grand Guignol" film is one that sensationalized horror. The style started in France and was named after "The Grand Guignol", the theater where that style of filmmaking originated.