This poor tree torture victim at the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf hangs upside down at the museum's chamber of horrors section. Although this is one of the less gory scenes, it is still fairly disturbing based on the body language of the figure. The victim screams pain without saying a word.
This is how the figure looks as you pass by the dark chamber. I assume this is the tree torture scene, as this is the only one that seems to match that description from the museum's guide.
Visit the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf website here.
This scene is inspired by the painting by Moreau. Princess Salome was the daughter of Herod Philippus, and the niece of Herod Antipas. At the instigation of her mother, Herodias, Salome obtained the head of Saint John the Baptist, from her uncle.
Here we see John the Baptists severed head served on a silver platter.
A close up of the quite revealing figure of Salome as she admires the head.
Don't say his name three times or else you'll have the most annoying resident of the afterlife hounding you forever. here we see Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice. With his trademark black and white striped suit, the figure stands behind its own gravestone.
With the flash on, we can see the detail in the figure. What a disgusting character.
In this amazingly graphic scene from the American Heritage Wax Museum in Scottsdale Arizona we see an Indian warrior attacking a settler as his horrified daughter watches in terror. The Indian is scalping the man for what the museum calls revenge for his intrusion into the Indian's territory.
A close up of the gruesome scene. The look on the scalped man is disturbing, as well as the anger in the native's face.
The daughter, crouched in the corner in fear, can do nothing but watch as her family is murdered.
This is a clay model of the mummy with teacup animatronic from the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland. Several years ago, Disney had a display showing prototypes, and concept artwork from the ride. Even at this small scale, we can see the detail that went into the actual figure.
Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin starred together in the 1925 horror film Phantom of the Opera. In this tableau from the Movieland Wax Museum we see the iconic reveal scene. Philbin is Christine Daae who has pulled the phantom's mask off and he is not too pleased with it. It is a very dark scene, as it belongs to the museum's "Chamber of Horrors" section.
With the flash on, we can see more detail in both the figures and the set.
Christine doesn't look too scared. in fact, she looks rather amused. It's another example of the difficulty in creating expression on wax figures.
The Phantom does looks angry. His disfigured face adds to the ominous mood of the entire tableau.
The clapboard sign and wax facts information on the movie, and on Lon Chaney.
The figures were not sold at the movieland auction. Instead, they moved to the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. An alternate phantom figure did sell at the auction for $4,000, which was very high for a figure that was not from Movieland. The organ and props sold for $1,250.
BONUS: Watch this movie here. (Courtesy of Archive.org)
This photo shows one of the terrifying figures in the Chamber of Horror section of the Hollywood Wax Museum in Gatlinburg Tennessee. Leatherface is one of the cannibalistic family members in the movie Texas Chain saw massacre. He's also the most well know, as his chain saw creates fear in the minds of those who imagine the damage that weapon causes to human flesh.
The human skin face mask is one creepy accessory.
A closer view of the figure. Leatherface and Michael Myers are the two masked killers I find the most disturbing.
A close up of the tableau information sign.
Visit the Hollywood Wax Museum Gatlinburg's website here.
What happens when you have a wax figure that you no longer want? Do you melt it down? Auction it off? No, you reuse it in a tableau that probably has nothing to do with the figure's original purpose and theme. Here we see what once was a wax reproduction of Michelangelo's sculpture, The Captive, reused as a torture victim in the Chamber of Horrors at the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf. The poor figure now has branding marks, and dripping blood on its body. At least the figure matches the scene this time. Though it's unfortunate that they had to mark up and modify the wax body.
A closer view of the figure. Michelangelo did a great job showing the torment and pain in the body language of the captive.
The blindfolding of the victim adds another level of depth to the agony. The poor man is unable to stop the branding iron from searing his body.
Visit the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf website here.
