In 1900 Paris, a couple are horribly murdered by a masked man whose metal claw rips out their hearts. The sole survivor and witness to the massacre is a young girl. 12 years later in Rome, a new wax museum opens; its main attractions are lifelike recreations of gruesome murder scenes. A young man bets that he can spend the whole night in the museum, but the next morning he's found dead. Soon, people start disappearing from the streets of Rome and the wax-museum halls begin filling with new figures.