Nedrick Young, who plays the alcoholic assistant Leon, was uncredited because he had been blacklisted during the McCarthy "Red scare" era in Hollywood.
According to the "Guinness Book of World Records", while this film is far from being the first 3-D film, nor the first in sound or color, it was the first 3-D film released with a stereophonic soundtrack (alas, though, the original stereo tracks are considered lost).
The alcoholic sculptor was a heroin addict in the original version of the film, Mystery of the Wax Museum, but that had to be changed for the remake because the Production Code forbade any mention of drug addiction. (Ironically, a character played by Vincent Price had got away with confessing to drug addiction in Dragonwyck, made seven years before "House of Wax.")
The first 3-D color movie ever to be produced by a major American studio. Shooting took place January 19-February 21 1953, for release April 9.
The name of Vincent Price's character was changed to Henry Jarrod from Ivan Igor to avoid alienating Russian viewers.
The scene where Paul Picerni is rescued from the guillotine by Frank Lovejoy seconds before the blade came down was filmed in one take, using a real guillotine blade. Picerni and director André De Toth got into a heated argument when Picerni, on advice from the film's stuntmen, refused to do the scene as too dangerous (a prop man was to hold up the blade off camera and tell the actors when he dropped it so they could yank Picerni away). De Toth threw him off the picture, but several days later, on orders from studio head Jack L. Warner, De Toth recalled him, and had the prop department modify the guillotine to make it less dangerous. After examining the guillotine, Picerni said he would do one take and no more, which is exactly what happened.
The trailer was scored by Max Steiner.
This was reportedly Warner Brothers' biggest success since Life with Father.
Warner Bros.' first 3-D movie, filmed by director André De Toth - who was blind in one eye and hence could not see the effect.