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Criminals Hall of Fame
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
5751 Victoria AveNiagara Falls, ON L2G 3L6
(905) 374-3011
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 10 am - 9 pm
Fri 10 am - 11 pm
Sat 10 am - 12 am
- Good for Kids:
- No
4 reviews for Criminals Hall of Fame
4 reviews in English
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Review from Dave M.
4/9/2012
Heh, this place has a certain maniacal charm to it.
I'll be honest, as a past student of all things True Crime, I've never had a desire to check out a wax museum dedicated to such things, but it was starting to snow and hail outside and we wanted to escape the weather.
The main area is a tad bizarre. They seemed to have more Boondock Saints items for sale than cool stuff like True Crime books and mugshot photos. I wonder if they're aware that the Saints aren't real. In any case, we went into the maze.
The place definitely gets points for educating. Each criminal is given a sign with a pretty detailed account of who they were, the crimes they commited, and where they ended up. They even caught me off guard with a couple of names that I'd never heard of. For a few of the more notorious ones, they also included backdrops of the crime scenes they're known for. Jack The Ripper's, for instance, is complete with a backdrop of the old London back-alleys, and a dead hooker on the ground.
My only real complaint is with the wax scuptures themselves. In most cases, they didn't look even remotely like their real-life counterparts. I guess your average bear wouldn't know what the hell Jeffrey Dahmer even looked like, so it's not a big deal, but I found it a little distracting. The tour finishes with a pretty cool dining table with fictional killers Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface seated, and an electric chair you can take pictures seated in.
For the 5 dollars or so it costs to go in, it's very much worth it. I just don't know about repeat visits. -
Review from Rob G.
2/20/2012
ehhh this place was okay. Wouldn't go back. Wouldn't recommend it unless you're strapped for ideas or something.
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Review from Michael G.
Just to prove to the United States that the Canadian side can be filled just as full of useless crap, I figure, there are an abundance of wax museums in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Most of them are filled with life sized wax replicas of entertainment figures. This one, however, is unique in that it's filled with even more vile figures than that - criminals. But not just any criminals. Mass murderers and serial killers that would make other baddies cower in fear.
The problem is with this scary premise in mind, how shoddily some of the sculptures and displays are put together to instill fear is criminal in itself.
I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to wax museums to begin with. A wax figure of Snow White would scare me in the right lighting. But somehow this museum was too passive. The hallways were dark but, while I'm glad nothing jumped out at me, the statues seemed a bit too fake. Most of them were just lumped together by time they terrorized their corner of the world. And while the backdrops were historically interesting, I didn't feel like they were ready to jump out at me.
Except for once - the John Wayne Gacy display. I swear the figurine looked so real in its clown makeup, I thought it was a guy dressed up behind the bars in its individual display.
Not that this place is a total wash. The placards are informative (especially about the more obscure villains) and there are great copies of original newspaper clippings from the times of the figurine's real life counterpart's rampages. So it might not scare the kids, but it would inform them. And their gift shop is pretty incredible (with everything from serious biography to kitschy coffee mugs on the "monsters" pictured within).
Still, if I had to do it over again, I'd choose the musical wax museum. I'm sure their Lady Gaga figurine would have freaked me the heck out!Listed in: Show Me The Way To The Next…
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Review from Levi S.
Very cool stop! Cheesy but interesting.
Specialties
Wax Museum : Life size replicas of real criminals made out of wax from the cowboy era to modern day serial killers and mobsters. Each figure has a short history written beside it.
History
Established in 1977
Wanted to start a business in the tourist district that people would always be interested in.
Meet the Business Owner: don a.
Started the museum 32 years ago with the facination of wax figures that make the past come to life with true facts of the past and present. A subject that never goes away.
