Aufwändig gestalteter Episodenfilm über die Figuren eines Wachsfigurenkabinetts, die in den Erzählungen eines jungen Dichters zum Leben erwachen. Der Kalif Harun al Raschid, Iwan der Schreckliche und Jack the Ripper sind die jeweiligen Protagonisten der drei Phantasiegebilde, in denen auch der Dichter selbst sowie die von ihm verehrte Tochter des Kabinettbesitzers in verschiedenen Rollen auftauchen.

Waxworks (original title: Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) is a 1924 fantasy/horror silent film directed by Paul Leni. The film is about a writer who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad (Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt) and Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss) in the museum in order to boost business. Although Waxworks is often credited as a horror film, it is a anthology film that goes through various genre's including a fantasy adventure, a historical film, and a horror film through its various episodes. This film would be director Paul Leni's last film made in Germany before he went on to make The Cat and the Canary (1927) in America.  (83 mins.; in very good quality).