Film: Paul Leni's "Waxworks"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in Paul Leni's film "Waxworks", the sub-stories become darker, more violent and more psychological as the film goes on. The author points out that, starting with a bad-intentioned but ultimately harmless sultan and ending with a dreamed encounter with the translucent Spring-Heeled Jack/ Jack the Ripper, the theme of evil becomes more dangerous while simultaneously becoming less incarnate, thus distorting its origin. The paper reveals that, by having the triumph of evil happen in the dream, the film is suggesting that evil exists fully within the psychological.

From the Paper:

"In the second vignette, the villain is able to inflict much more pain than the preceding despot. Ivan the Terrible's actual connection to his bad intention however, is much more fluid. By not killing or torturing his victims himself, but instead ordering others to, Ivan's role presents evil as an entity that can be passed along from person to person. Again the villain replaces the love interest's role, this time much more forcibly. While torturing her would-be husband, Ivan abducts and forces himself on the would-be wife. However, Ivan is unable to accomplish his goal."

Sample of Sources Used:

• John Thomas Haine's 1840 play Spring-Heeled Jack: The Terror of London.
• Sidney Gottlieb, "Early Hitchcock: The German Influence," Framing Hitchcock. (Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2002),

More papers on Film: Paul Leni's "Waxworks":

• Film Review # 25490 : "Olympia" a Film by Leni Riefenstahl"
• Research Paper # 43590 : "Leni Riefenstahl"
• Article Review # 83547 : "Film: Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will"

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