Chamber of Horrors (1966)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Too much of everything

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is above all a fun horror film about two criminologists in the late 19th century Baltimore area(one decidedly English - Wilfred Hyde-White and the other decidedly Italian - Cesare Danova)working in a wax museum and uncovering crimes for/with the police. Apparently it was to be a pilot for a television series, and it is very unfortunate it never progressed that far. Hyde-White is always a treat and Danova is rather good too. This story deals with capturing Jason Cravatte - a local aristocrat with a fetish for girls in wedding gowns - dead or alive. Patrick O'Neal gives one of his best screen performances in the role of this psychotic, deranged killer who loses his hand and replaces it with all kinds of cutlery(ax, sword, scalpel, etc...) The film also boast the two gimmicks of the Fear Flasher when the screen will flash with green to let the viewer know something terrifying is about to happen and is preceded by the Horror Horn announcing its arrival. We are told in the beginning of the film that this will occur four times and none of those times are scary in the least bit. What makes this film work is the acting by Hyde-White, Danova, O'Neal, and people like Wayne Rogers as a constable, Jose Rene Ruiz as Pepe the dwarfish assistant, a cameo by Tony Curtis helps out, and all the acting is workmanlike and credible. Hy Averback , a television director of repute and ability, gives the film a very stylish feel with its Victorian-like atmosphere, swirling fogs, and seedy locales when needed. The wax museum itself is indeed impressive as well as is the denouement of the film. This "little" film - judging by its limited audience - is much better than one might at first expect given the gimmicks and story.

Dull for most of its running time, though it has its moments and things do perk up later and the climax isn't bad. It's about a crazed criminal in Victorian times (Patrick O'Neal) who is condemned and escapes, losing a hand in the process. Then he returns with a variety of different detachable gadgets (a hook, a cleaver, a knife, etc.) to place onto his limb to achieve his revenge. He enlists the aid of a prostitute (Laura Devon) to help him in his plan. Wayne Rogers (later of M.A.S.H fame) seems completely out of place here, and so does Miss Devon who's awkward in her part. I bought this as a 'semi' blind-buy, because I remember seeing this in prime time when I was a little kid around 1970 and thinking it was sooooooo sick and depraved (way before Friday THE 13th came along). Of course, these days it turned out to be weak tea and a disappointment. Just goes to show you that the mind is a powerful thing and a very old recollection can often trick you. I did have fun with the "Fear Flasher" gimmick, reminiscent of William Castle. **1/2 out of ****

*spoilers*In the pre-credits sequence the viewer is given a stern warning about the gruesome nature of the subsequent film. For our benefit the filmmakers have added two features which alert viewers to the four horrific moments in the film. The two delightful features are the `Fear Flash' (the screen flashes red) and the `Horror Horn' (self-explanatory). The gimmicks are worthy of William Castle - the viewer has the option to `turn away' or `close their eyes' to avoid the onscreen terror. Problem is only one of the four moments is the least bit bloody, the rest are rather anaemic. Although the Horn and Flash certainly add to the film, they make a predictable moment even more so and also falsely raise your expectations about the ensuing scene. Still, the introductory warning is the highlight of the film.The film opens promisingly with a macabre wedding ceremony. A priest is being forced at gunpoint to marry a couple. The bride is a corpse and the groom the gun wielding murderer, Jason Cravette. Afterwards the priest flees to the police whose subsequent investigations are fruitless. That is until they are forced to enlist the help of a pair of `amateur criminologists' who also run a morbid waxworks exhibition - the titular `Chamber of Horrors'. The duo, the elderly and urbane Englishman Harold Blount, and the 'suave' Frenchman Anthony Draco, pursue the case whilst in tandem exploiting it to the full in their waxworks exhibition.Chamber Of Horrors wants to be like the Fifties classic House Of Wax so much it hurts. From the villain donning a black cape and hat, the 'living' head on a shelf holding wax busts, to the cinematic style and period setting. Even the sets used for the exhibitions foyer/exterior and its main display room look identical (including the camera perspectives used), and probably are. Although Patrick O'Neal has the best role as the villain, he is not as memorable as Vincent Price. Although at the finale I was 'cheering' on the villain. The remainder of the cast, especially veteran British actor Wilfred Hyde-White, camp it up admirably.Some of the films clichés certainly grate. These include the inadequacy of the local constabulary, and Draco having an old flame in practically every bar. Happily, the film never takes itself seriously and the plot is, overall, much different from House Of Wax. The killer has an interesting murder weapon(s), a range of detachable hooks, saws, etc., on the stump of his right arm. He is a progenitor, of sorts, to Trap-Jaw in the Masters of the Universe cartoon.The waxen murders on display in the 'chamber of Horrors' is, however, more interesting than the killer's. Initially I suspected the murders would mimic them. The fact that the 'heroes' have a replica of the various murders on display before the body has had a chance to cool in the morgue is totally unrealistic. Wouldn't the police, media, and relations of the deceased object to this tasteless exploitation. The criminologists are more like ghouls (just like me, the viewer, then).*Big spoiler for both this film and Tenebrae (1982)*Finally, the killer's fate reminded me of a similar death in Dario Argento's Tenebrae. Cravette is skewered on the weapon held by a waxen replica of himself. In Tenebrae a novelist is skewered by a piece of ornamentation/modern art. There is a certain irony and poetic justice in the artist's inspiration and a novelist (considering literature as an artform) being killed by a work of art.

Expecting a low-grade and low budget chiller (you know: good ol' Tony Curtis has a cameo in it...), knowing that it was originally made for TV, and having seen vintage ads of it, announcing gimmicks like the "fear flasher" and the "horror horn" to protect rabbit-hearted viewers from being shocked without warning, this one's a real surprise to watch. Sure, the gimmicks are quite ridiculous, but the rest of the movie -and that is quite a lot- provides tense and moody atmosphere, above average camerawork, gorgeous colour compositions and probably the most gripping performance Mr. Patrick O'Neal -as the demented killer- has ever delivered (well, sure, there have not been many...). It's great fun watching him do scary things with his special wooden hand stump, fitted with a variety of hooks, knives and cleavers. This almost forgotten pic can easily compete with the quality of the Vincent Price Classic "House of Wax" and it's a winner - especially considering the fun factor. The whole thing looks a bit like as if William Castle would have produced and re-edited a classic hammer movie directed by -say- Jacques Tourneur (forgive me, Jacques). Great fun to watch.