The Wax Mask

The Wax Mask, a 1997 French-Italian co-production, is a Gothic horror film and the directing debut of Sergio Stivaletti. The story unfolds in Rome, where a newly opened wax museum draws crowds with grisly tableaux of murder scenes. Soon after the opening, locals start disappearing while fresh figures turn up among the exhibits, and a young woman begins to uncover the sinister link between the vanishings and the museum's proprietor.

The project was originally conceived as Lucio Fulci's final film. Wanting to help the ailing director, Dario Argento agreed to develop a remake of the 1953 classic House of Wax with him. When Fulci died in 1996 before shooting could begin, Argento brought in special effects veteran Sergio Stivaletti to take over, and the script was reworked to lean more heavily on elaborate effects. The cast includes Romina Mondello, Robert Hossein and Riccardo Serventi Longhi.