Chamber of Horrors (1966) User Reviews (35)

A thrilling film with occasional lapses in the writing...but it's still well worth seeing.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 March 2011]

"Chamber of Horrors" sure reminds me of some of William Castle's films, as it begins with a prologue narrated by William Conrad. It explains how scary the film is but as a special service to the squeamish in the audience, a red light will flash and weird music will go off when one of four horrifying moments are about to begin! This is cheesy but also fills the movie with kitschy fun.

The film begins with a truly horrifying and wonderful scene in which a total psycho (Patrick O'Neal) forces a minister to marry him....to a dead woman!! The guy is 100% nuts but clever--and manages to elude the police for some times after this. Eventually, when he is captured, he manages to escape both times--and I won't go in to detail about it, but the second time is a doozy and everyone assumes he's dead! And, from here on, the film bears a lot of similarity to the wonderful film "House of Wax" (the Vincent Price version, not the new crappy one) as well as the Dr. Phibes films--some amazingly gory murders, all in the name of revenge. This portion of the film is pretty good, albeit a bit slow at times.

What intrigued me about this film was seeing Patrick O'Neal in a role totally unlike his other film and TV appearances. He was good, mind you--but NOT the typical sort of O'Neal! Also I appreciated that although the subject matter was grisly, it was not at all explicit--and the red flashing lights really weren't necessary. I am thrilled, as I think many horror films just go too far.

Overall, I liked this film very much--O'Neal's character was great and the story quite exciting. The only serious problems were the occasional bad writing, as intended victims just acted too dumb at times--such as the cop (Wayne Rogers) who chose to look for a serial killer out to kill him TOTALLY ALONE! When this character found O'Neal, instead of shooting him on sight, he allowed him to get close to him...too close. Another case of bad writing involved the assistant, Pepe, who hears a noise and TELLS NO ONE--going to investigate it himself!! Too dumb--and sad because otherwise it was a thrilling little movie.

By the way, the way the film ended it seemed apparent this was meant as either a TV pilot or the first in a series. Sadly, this was not to be.

Horror Delight Despite the Fear Flasher and Horror Horn

[BaronBl00d · 7/10 · 20 December 2009]

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.

Ladies and gentleman, you have been warned!

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 3 July 2017]

Police inspectors in 1880s Baltimore seek the assistance of two "amateur" criminologists--who are about to open a wax museum devoted to history's most notorious murderers!--to track down an escaped killer who has a fetish for blondes. The maniac is eventually caught but escapes captivity, chopping off his own right hand in the process. Handsomely-produced and shot thriller from Warner Bros. was originally meant as the pilot for a proposed "House of Wax" TV series. The fright warning gimmicks at the beginning owe a small debt to William Castle, while the wax museum milieu owes a little extra to Vincent Price. The B-cast glides through it bemusedly, while the film's technical elements (from the costumes and music scoring to Richard Kline's cinematography) are top-notch. There's even a movie star cameo included for fun. ** from ****

An unsung classic

[dphelan-1 · 20 September 2005]

Since they had to use the Fear Flasher and the Horror Horn to sell this failed TV pilot, one might make the incorrect assumption that this is a bad film. In fact, it is excellent within its limitations. Patrick O'Neal is superb as Jason - suave, cunning, a devil with the ladies, cruel and absolutely insane. His story is told in a very interesting fragmented style. We know little about him when he is first arrested but as Draco and his associates track him down we learn much. The subject matter and milieu are a bit seamy for television which is why this was released theatrically at first. I never saw it there though I passed a theater where it was playing. For years I had seen it only in black and white. Recently I saw a color TV print and it looks great. O"Neal is a wonderful Vincent Price stand-in with Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Phillip Bourneuf,Jeanette Nolan and Jose Rene Ruiz ( as Tun Tun) doing great work. Laura Devon has the best line. As she tries to clumsily describe Jason she suddenly bursts out " What am I thinking ? He is the easiest man in the world to identify. He only has one hand!"

Polished color photography and great atmosphere give it an above B-level look...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 7 November 2012]

There's a lot to like in CHAMBER OF HORRORS, if you can forgive the copycat style that makes it look like a rip-off of HOUSE OF WAX at times. But the plot, involving a killer (Patrick O'Neal) taking revenge on those who punished him for his crimes, moves swiftly amid some handsome color settings and should keep fright fans interested. O'Neal is very persuasive in the central role.

Less can be said of others in the cast--including Marie Windsor who is mainly wasted in a supporting role, Suzy Parker whose role has no depth at all and Patrice Wymore.

Laura Devon is a stunning blond beauty and makes the most of her decorative assignment as the woman who sets up the men targeted for gruesome killings. The wax museum itself is an intriguing setting but the script is not up to the standards of the Vincent Price film with a somewhat similar storyline. Wilfrid Hyde-White and Cesare Danova are effective enough as the men who want to trap the killer.

Recommended mainly for its excellent use of Victorian atmosphere and crisp, clear Technicolor.

Silly but enjoyable

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 7 November 2012]

This takes place in the 1800s. Patrick O'Neal (having a REAL good time) plays a killer who is sentenced to jail for killing his wife and then marrying the corpse! He escapes from the train taking him to jail and is believed dead. However he's alive. He also lost his hand in the escape and has a variety of attachments (among them a hook and a meat cleaver) and sets out to kill the men who convicted him.

This was originally made for TV but was considered too gruesome (at the time) and released to theatres. It was also put on with a VERY fun gimmick--the Fear Flasher and Horror Horn. When the supposedly gruesome parts were coming the frame froze, flashed red and a horn sounded to warn people! The "gruesome" parts are ridiculously tame by todays standards and wouldn't scare a child. In fact I originally saw this on TV uncut during the afternoon in the 1970s when I was in grade school! Didn't scare me at all. Still the acting is good, the atmosphere is spooky and it moves at a fast clip. Silly but fun. I give it a 7.

horror with a gimmick

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 3 September 2019]

Jason Cravatte (Patrick O'Neal) forces a reverend at gunpoint to marry him and the dead body of Melinda Sawyer. The police is brought in but Jason had already escaped. Anthony Draco (Cesare Danova) and Harold Blount (Wilfrid Hyde-White) own a wax museum and consider themselves amateur detectives. The police searches throughout Baltimore for the disturbed killer.He is caught and sentenced to hang. He manages to escape from a train transport but he had to chop off his own hand. With his new hand replacement, he takes revenge upon those who wronged him.

This is an old horror with a gimmick. At the beginning, the narrator explains the Fear Flasher and Horror Horn would precede the most horrific scenes. That is the best part of the movie. It's campy and fun in treating it seriously. The actual use of the gimmick does not do much. The grotesque violent scenes are not so shocking especially with modern horror eyes. There is blood but the camera cuts away before the actual violence. The story starts interesting but it flounders in the second half. The characters don't have the special interest and the actors are not the most charismatic. It's a passable bland old horror with a cheesy gimmick which is more fun in the imagination than it is in reality.

Interesting View of Baltimore 1880

[Colonial-Oak · 6/10 · 31 October 2021]

I watched this film because it was a horror movie, in the same line as the original House of Wax.

Adding to the intrigue was seeing a young Wayne Rogers perform, and seeing how Hollywood portrayed Baltimore in 1880.

I have to admit, as a resident of Baltimore here in 2020, the city looked A LOT BETTER than it does now, and despite the lack of technology, was portrayed as A LOT SAFER than it is today.

Well done flick for a B Movie. Too bad Baltimore went downhill so quickly after 1900.

CHAMBER OF HORRORS (Hy Averback, 1966) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 23 January 2010]

This chiller is universally lambasted – mainly for its derivative plot and the fact that it was originally intended for TV – but the result is fairly stylish nonetheless (thanks largely to its evocative period setting)…though decked-out with the unnecessary, indeed ludicrous, gimmick combo of "Fear Flasher" and "Horror Horn" (warning signs of very little at all!). Patrick O'Neal zestily hams it up as the suave madman villain (we first see him pulling a gun on a preacher in order to perform a wedding ceremony involving his deceased cheating fiancée!) and who, after the self-mutilation – under water! – of his own hand during the train journey to the penitentiary, replaces it with assorted deadly weapons (most memorably, a synthetic hand exploding to reveal a gun underneath)…which, naturally, come in handy {sic} when he embarks upon a vengeful crusade of terror against the people who condemned him; more than 15 years before PIECES (1983), he intends to create a human composite from their various body parts! In hindsight, the "House Of Wax" subplot – allowing amateur criminologists Cesare Danova and Wilfrid Hyde-White (having a ball as always) to do their own sleuthing on the side – is quite redundant, but it does make for a rather nice climax in which O'Neal's own figure acts as "deus ex machina" in his eventual come-uppance. By the way, Tony Curtis' split-second 'gag' appearance is a genuine head-scratcher: just what was the point of it – did he simply happen to be on the premises or, perhaps, owe a favor to the studio?

William Castle meets Jacques Tourneur at Hammer Studios

[Clarence Abernathy · 8/10 · 6 June 2000]

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.

Mild thrills but a bit of a con

[adriangr · 6/10 · 1 December 2015]

This little known 1966 movie tells of a murderer taking revenge on those responsible for his capture in various warped ways. His gimmick is that he has a missing hand, and is able to screw various weapons of death into the stump in order to carry out his executions. Trying to catch him are the police plus two amateur detectives who run a wax museum. Incidentally, the inclusion of the wax museum seems to be a mere side line of the plot, as it serves no real dramatic purpose except to provide some visual interest.

The film is nicely shot, although it does look like a polished and extended episode of a TV show - which according to most sources, is what it was originally intended to be. The acting is pretty good, the period details is as good as any TV series from the 1960's could get away with on a limited budget. The story is interesting and entertaining, and the climactic scene is fun.

But the reason for my gripe about it being a con is it's very core gimmick: the Horror Horn and the Fear Flasher. The film takes great pains to point out that these warnings will alert the audience to look away whenever a horrible thing is about to happen on screen - but every time the alarm goes off, not one damn horrible thing happens on screen! The action immediately fades out or cuts away to another scene as soon as the alarms has ended - no blood, no special effects, nothing - which makes for the lamest, weakest excuse for horror I have ever seen. At least William Castle delivered on his gimmicks. This film has absolutely no payoffs for it's promises.

Gripe over, as I said earlier it's entertaining enough, but the alarm gimmick is a serious disappointment. Maybe it was added after the filming was complete, and the movie was never intended to be graphic. You could watch this on a Saturday morning and not raise a single goose-bump. Shame.

Frightful fun for lovers of classic chills

[cchase · 15 November 2000]

Borrowing a page from the playbook of producers like William Castle, Al Adamson, Nicholson and Arkoff at AIP and the like, this was a lot of fun for me as a kid with the hokey gimmicks of the "Fear Flasher" and the "Horror Horn" added to prevent the more squeamish members of the audience from dying of sheer fright, (the goosebump-inducing voice of the Narrator in the "Instructional" sequence was none other than CANNON himself, William Conrad, who actually directed one of these horror potboilers for Warner's, the Dean Jones/Connie Stevens starrer TWO ON A GUILLOTINE.)

This rehash of the definitely superior HOUSE OF WAX with Vincent Price, gives us the grisly tale of serial strangler Jason Cravette (Patrick O'Neal in a bravura performance), who is finally caught literally red-handed as he ritualistically weds and beds his latest victim, ex mortis.

His subsequent escape and its gory consequences, (he goes from being caught red-handed to losing one of them), becomes the fodder for a sensational museum of mass murderers run by suave local entrepreneur Anthony Draco (Cesare Danova, one of Warner's second-tier matinee idols.) Once worried about operating in the red, soon Draco and his associates, the marvelous Wilfrid Hyde-White and diminuitive sidekick Tun-Tun (the 'Mini-Me' of his day) are back in business, as the slippery Cravette gives our heroes and the local authorities more red than they know what to do with, cutting a vengeful swath through the ranks of all those responsible for his near-incarceration.

Hy Averback keeps all the right balls in the air with a speedy and sure sense of direction, and there's much delightful interplay between the lead characters, especially Danova and Hyde-White. Look closely and not only will you see Tony Curtis in an uncredited cameo, but a baby-faced Wayne Rogers as well, as a very unlucky constable (whom Averback would direct years later in episodes of TV's M*A*S*H...talk about six-degree associations!)

With the lush photography provided by master d.p. Richard Kline, and a score by William Lava that reminds us that he wasn't just at Warner's to provide soundtracks for Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner, this was about as classy as genre-B pics could get for the mid-'60's, not discounting the efforts of A.I.P. with the Price/Poe films. Not available in any medium that I'm aware of, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled on AMC or TNT late night to catch this worthy rarity.

Chamber of (anti-climactic) Horrors.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 16 November 2019]

Harold Blount (Wilfrid Hyde-White) and Anthony Draco (Cesare Danova), owners of a House of Wax, help the police to track down escaped murderous lunatic Jason Cravatte (Patrick O'Neal).

Chamber of Horrors features a couple of cheap William Castle-style gimmicks: The Fear Flasher, a visual sign of impending grisly content, and The Horror Horn, an audible warning of approaching scariness. The problem is that, despite these prompts for nervous viewers to look away, the film is neither very grisly nor scary.

Originally intended as the pilot for a proposed series about a pair of 19th-century amateur criminologists, Chamber of Horrors was deemed too intense for television, and consequently padded out to feature length with the aforementioned gimmicks (plus a pointless cameo by Tony Curtis as a gambler). Unfortunately, while pushing the envelope for the small screen (the film opens with its twisted antagonist marrying his fiancé, despite the fact that he has just strangled her), it all feels rather tame for a big screen offering. If the Fear Flasher and Horror Horn had actually preceded graphic gruesomeness or nerve-shredding intensity, then this tawdry tale of the macabre would have been very entertaining; sadly, the gimmicks only lead to repeated disappointment since none of the scenes that follow actually deliver the goods.

The first Fear Flasher comes as convicted killer Cravatte is forced to cut off his own hand with an axe in order to escape from the law; while the idea is undeniably unsettling, what we get is strictly PG. The second use of the gimmick occurs as Cravatte, now equipped with a range of weapons that can be attached to his stump, attacks the judge who sentenced him to death; once again, the film fails to deliver anything shocking. Further uses of the Fear Flasher and Horror Horn herald scenes that are just as underwhelming.

Still, it's not all bad news: O'Neal, definitely the film's strongest suit, makes for a maniacally malevolent villain, and director Hy Averback achieves quite bit of creepy atmosphere with his foggy New Orleans setting and our heroes' ghoulish attraction, the House of Wax. The film also benefits from some quality eye-candy in the form of buxom blonde beauty Laura Devon as Cravatte's accomplice Marie Champlain, Suzy Parker as senator's daughter Barbara Dixon, and Patrice Wymore as restaurateur Vivian. Chamber of Horrors should also be lauded for making its obligatory dwarf character one of the heroes instead of a bad guy (as is often the case in trashy horror films): José René Ruiz as House of Wax host Pepe is a lot of fun (although he's still the butt of several terribly un-PC jokes about his diminutive stature).

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Solid if flawed entry

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 6/10 · 8 November 2012]

Chamber of Horrors-After escaping custody and presumed dead, a deranged madman starts a rampage of revenge against those he believed wrong him in sending him to jail, forcing a pair of wax museum attendees to help solve the case before his rampage is complete.

A somewhat decent and enjoyable film, though this one does have it's problems. The first and most obvious one is the gimmick of the flashing red screen and siren used to indicate a potentially frightening scene, yet neither the sequence itself shows anything remotely frightening nor is the warning useful as it intrudes on the frozen frame and looks cheesy and quite fake. Onto the film itself, the biggest problem is the fact that the majority of the film is devoted to an investigation angle that's not conducted by the police but rather his friends in the wax museum as they construct an exhibit on the madman's rampage, which feels quite lame as well as intrusive to the pacing as there's not a whole lot of kills to really work this one over. That said, there's some good stuff here as the frequent trips to the wax museum give it a pretty chilly air at times, several of the stalking scenes are undertaken during a heavy fog that provides a pretty rich atmosphere during the better moments in the film and it has a fairly fun finale that certainly has it's fair share of action. It's enough to make it entertaining, but its held down by it's flaws.

Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

"Mayor Carmine, I don't think it's right that you should extort money from the college"...but do act in horror flicks

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 30 May 2006]

"Chamber of Horrors" is one those obscure movies, probably available only at Portland video/DVD store Movie Madness. It portrays serial killer Jason Cravette (Patrick O'Neal) on his way to jail when he has to cut off his hand to escape. So, he returns to Baltimore and resumes his murders.

Yes, the plot is pretty routine, but this movie is unique. The star is Cesare Danova, better known as Mayor Carmine DePasto in "Animal House". Does that give the movie a feeling of silliness? Maybe, but the movie mostly feels very neat. Also, the judge is played by Vinton Hayworth, aka Gen. Schaeffer on "I Dream of Jeannie". So Bluto Blutarsky and Jeannie are linked by a hook-handed maniac! Go figure! But overall, this movie is a real treat. Fans of 1960s camp will surely love it. And it might just save your life one day...

A murder mystery in Baltimore. I try to imagine if one or both of Baltimore's two famous sons (by whom I mean Barry Levinson and John Waters) had directed this movie. Hmmm...

Chamber of Horrors (1966) **1/2

[JoeKarlosi · 6/10 · 22 February 2009]

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 ****

Fear Flasher and Horror Horn

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 6 February 2019]

One of those silly horror/comedy films from the sixties. It's fun but there is so much tongue in cheek that after a while the suspense goes away and it becomes dull. Cravette is a murderous psychopath who like young women, dead and alive. Wilfred Hyde-White is a writer of murder books who runs a wax museum, specializing in historical murders (and not so historical). It's OK but I just never got taken in by it.

The horror school of William Castle

[Coventry · 8/10 · 20 March 2019]

"Chamber of Horrors" is deliciously absurd and tacky horror of the 1960s, and I love it wholeheartedly! The plot of the film was intended as the pilot for a TV-series, but eventually it was considered too gruesome and shocking for television. So, instead, director Hy Averback and his crew turned the concept into a long-feature film and added a few redundant but contemporary popular gimmicks like the "Fear Flasher" and the "Horror Horn". These features are obviously inspired by the marketing tricks invented by the legendary William Castle ("The Tingler", "13 Ghost", ...) and warn viewers when supposedly shocking sequences are about to start, so they have the time to cover eyes and ears. Cute but derivative, of course, and quite unnecessary because "Chamber of Horrors" is already sufficiently inventive, entertaining and compelling without having to use silly gimmicks.

I'd really wish that someone in Hollywood would pick up the idea and produce the overdue TV-series after all! The concept is inspired by the 1953 classic "House of Wax" and set in Baltimore around the end of the 19th century. The local wax museum proudly exhibits gruesome real-life crimes and the series would feature the museum's two curators as amateur-criminologists that outsmart the police and solve macabre murder cases. Clever! The first assignment for the handsome Anthony Draco (Cesare Danova) and the witty Harold Blount (Wilfred Hyde-White) is apprehending the crazy Jason Cravatte, who strangled his fiancé with her own hair and married the corpse afterwards. Cravatte is arrested and sentenced to death, but he escapes during prison transport by chopping off his own manacled hand and throwing himself into the Baltimore River. With a hook for a hand and a sexy French prostitute as an accomplice, Cravatte returns to Baltimore with the fiendish plan to kill everyone who wronged him in court.

Vintage Grand-Guignol material, in other words, and "Chamber of Horrors" is fantastically entertaining thanks to its bizarrely twisted plot details, grotesque scenery and vivid acting performances. Patrick O'Neal is so delightfully sinister and menacing as the homicidal Jason Cravatte that even his famous lookalike Vincent Price couldn't had played the role better! The script also introduces numerous intriguing supportive characters that were clearly supposed to become recurring regulars in the series, so it's a crying shame the format didn't go through. Even in the extended 99-minutes version, the gore and bloodshed are rather limited, so feel free to keep watching when you see the Fear Flasher and hear the Horror Horn.

"I'm Not A Lady, I'm An Adverturess"

[davidcarniglia · 7/10 · 1 February 2019]

No doubt that a gloulish wax museum backdrop makes for good horror. Too bad this TV-pilot-turned-feature-film didn't evolve into a TV series. If nothing else, Chamber of Horrors would've made a fitting counterpoint to the mid-60s spy/espionage craze. The sumptuous color cinematography gives a slightly over-the-top look at late-Victorian Baltimore. Patrick O'Neal as Jason Caroll/Cravatte is especially reptilian; an archetypal horror villain in the Vincent Price or Jack Palance mold. Caesar Danova's Anthony Draco is his worthy antagonist as the museum curator.

There's something uniquely horrific about the concept of a wax museum. What's on display are simulations of dead people; realistic, yet, given the nature of the wax medium, corpse-like. In effect, it's a graveyard brought back, not to life, but a ghostly existence. Plus, at least in cinematic incarnations, the subjects are usually notorious criminals and sadists, including sexual deviants. Then there's the quasi-carnival atmosphere of these places, with an assortment of eccentric, perhaps evil creators of the wax mannequins and their underlings. Although I suppose this craft had been around for some time, it seemed to peak in Victorian/Edwardian times, perhaps because wax museums could provide likenesses of historical figures in an age just before the advent of movies. Events that occurred 100 to 150 years ago seems to earn creepy points anyway, adding to our suspension of disbelief.

Another device that works well here is the slick array of weaponry that Caroll has attached to his sawed-off stump hand. Kind of like the early-modern tech on display in the 60s series The Wild Wild West--which portrayed the same era as Chamber of Horrors. The other genre at play is the detective story. There's no mystery per se, but we don't know how and if Caroll will be caught. So that sets up the Poe-Conan Doyle-style killer leaving literary clues. In modern jargon, he's an 'organized' serial killer; he has a clear revenge motive, plans carefully, adds a 'signature' to his victims (the body parts), and indicates his next victim with the poems. Weirdly, art imitates life, thanks to the ability of the museum to recreate the victims' body parts as they are discovered.

As much as I like the wax museum setting, with all of its otherworldly connotations, and Danova's forceful character, it hardly makes sense that the police in effect deputize Draco to help solve the crimes. That issue only points out the relatively flat performances by the supporting cast. To make the detective aspect work, at least one of the policemen needs to be more believable. Carroll's escape from the train was pretty cool, and sets up the convincing pretext that he's dead--therefore he's off-the-hook, so to speak. That sets up the New Orleans scenes, which could've been expanded on. His virtual kidnapping of Marie (Laura Devon) is a bit histrionic, given that they barely know each other. As someone else said, too many of the characters act dumb.

A couple of scenes are really great: when Caroll reappears at the judges house, and the climactic fight scene between Caroll and Draco. The contrast of the judge's alarm with Caroll's droll menace personifies the meaning of horror. The fight scene, on the other hand, is another Wild Wild West-type display of exotic weaponry and machismo. As others have noted, the lurid courtroom scene is stunning, and unexpectedly abstract. The 'cliffhanger' ending was also a surprise; is there a copycat killer? Having the 'Fright Alert' wasn't a bad idea, as tricks like that were in vogue at the time, but, to repeat others' complaints, it doesn't really alert us to anything really nasty.

Despite the problems with Chamber of Horror, it's fun and entertaining. Though it lags a bit in the middle, the atmosphere and tone are consistent. Worth watching for the visuals alone. 7/10.

Fair (5.0-6.0/10)

[jplenton · 22 January 2001]

*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.

The slickest horror of the 60's

[ashwetherall1 · 7/10 · 8 December 2021]

I may have said this before could Chamber of Horrors be the slickest Horror movie of the 1960's. Don't get me wrong its not the best, but it is incredibly entertaining. Actually Chamber of Horrors was conceived as a pilot for a TV series. The series would have a different villain each week and would also feature the gimmick of a blink and your miss them, big name celebrity cameo.

Actually this film has a couple of other gimmicks. Namely the FEAR FLASHER where the screen would blink red just before something nasty would occur, giving the audience time to look away. This would be accompanied by the HORROR HORN. If you didn't turn away you'd realise that their wasn't much to turn away from.

Its very silly but its also very slick with more than a nod to the William castle films. The film also has those slick production values that you would find on shows like Star trek or Gun smoke, not big budget but very professional.

The Plot itself is quite ingenious . Cesare Danova and Wilfrid Hyde-White play two proprietors of a Baltimore wax museum solve crimes in there spare time. They are aided by there loyal vertically challenged assistant played by José René Ruiz.

But the thing I really like about Chamber of Horrors is it's villain Jason Cravatte played with oily charm and menace by Patrick O'Neil. A madman who marries corpse of women he has just strangled with there own hair. An original and quite sick premise. Jason is caught but escapes by cutting off his own hand. But returns with some Handy attachments ( yes a bad pun) and seeking a drawn out revenge on the men who condemned him. The film also features the incredibly beautiful Laura Devon as Jason's unwitting accomplice.

All in all if Chamber of horrors is anything, It most defiantly entertaining and possibly more macabre than it intended to be as its killer could be compared with Dr Phibes or Hannibal lector. I'd give this film a solid 7 out of 10. Its silly , slick and most of all a lot of fun to watch..

"I want you to find my crazy nephew."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 31 May 2023]

Quite a few horror films of the era started with a warning to alert the audience about the terror to come, as if one might get out of their theater seat and go do something else instead. This was one of those that used a flashing red screen and a horn to let the viewers know something dreadful was about to happen. Not necessary really and considering the slasher/gore stuff in movies today, the violence here is somewhat restrained by comparison. The surprise here is the principal character portrayed by Patrick O'Neill, perhaps somewhat out of his usual element. His appearance called to mind a contemporary, Vincent Price, who could easily have portrayed the insane Jason Cravatte. The character is introduced in the opening scene where he marries a corpse at gunpoint by a frightened minister!! Tipped off by the reverend, the authorities find and arrest Cravatte, and from there it's a cat and mouse game as he escapes a prison train by chopping off his own hand! He schemes to find and murder those responsible for his arrest and conviction, including the judge who sentenced him, the psychiatrist who proclaimed him sane to stand trial, and the arresting officer. The last one on his list is Anthony Draco (Cesare Danova), an assistant at Harold Blount's (Wilfrid Hyde-White) House of Wax. Draco, a very smooth operator, manages to court a couple of lovely ladies while pursuing Cravatte, including Marie Champlain (Laura Devon), who initially was recruited by the mad killer with promises of a refined and wealthy lifestyle. Like so many horror flicks of the era, Cravatte meets a fitting end when he's introduced to himself at the wax museum. You'll have to see it for yourself.

A curious note about the picture. Tony Curtis makes a brief uncredited cameo appearance in the story as a dinner patron named Mr. Julian. Having already appeared in dozens of roles by this time in his career, I had to wonder what that was all about. As for Marie Windsor, who portrayed Madam Corona, after she solicited Blount and Draco to find her crazy nephew, she was never heard from again!

Good film....

[tles7 · 7/10 · 31 January 2019]

Despite the William Castle-like gimmicks which are best left out of the film, it's an enjoyable little movie with good performances . Hard to believe that this was originally aimed for television instead of a theatrical release as it is a bit violent for the mid-60s TV censors.

FEAR FLASHER!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 16 July 2023]

"Ladies and gentlemen, the motion picture you are about to see contains scenes so terrifying the public must be given grave warning. Therefore, the management has instituted visual and audible warning at the beginning of each of the four supreme Fright Points. The Fear Flasher is the visual warning. The Horror Horn is the audible warning. Turn away when you hear the Fear Flasher! Close your eyes when you hear the Horror Horn!"

Chamber of Horrors was originally intended to be a made-for-TV movie and a pilot for a series that would be known as House of Wax. It was way too intense for that, so it came to theaters. It was pretty short - it's only 99 minutes with padding - so they added two gimmicks: the Fear Flasher turns the screen red when something scary happens and the Horror Horn makes plenty of noise when something gory is about to befall a character.

This was directed by Hy Averback, who directed and produced plenty of TV as well as directing the movies Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas and The Story of Life, a 62-minute sex educational film with animation by several former Disney cartoonists. He was also the voice of the loudspeaker on M*A*S*H*. It was written by Stephen Kandel, who in addition to writing tons of TV scripts, also wrote Winchester 73. Seriously, his TV credits hit every major show of the 70s.

Anthony Draco (Cesare Danova) and Harold Blount (Wilfrid Hyde-White) own a wax museum in Baltimore and have a side hustle as detectives. They join the police - including Wayne Rogers as Sgt. Albertson - in the hunt for Jason Cravette (Patrick O'Neal), a man who kills women and then marries her, which doesn't seem like the normal way these things go. After being caught and sent via train to prison, he escapes by cutting off his own hand and running off to New Orleans, now with a hook where he once had fingers.

He finds a sex worker named Marie Champlain (Laura Devon) and transforms her into a lady - ironic, as Hyde-White played Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady - and takes her back to Baltimore to seduce and murder the man who convicted him, Judge Walter Randolph (Vinton Hayworth). He chops off the dead man's hands and head so the police can't figure out who did the crime. He follows that by killing Dr. Romulus Cobb (Richard O'Brien) and sending that man's hands to the police to taunt them.

Draco and Blount believe that the mysterious murderer is Cravette and that he's sending a full corpse to the police piece-by-piece, with the arms and head still missing. After he kills a police officer for the hands, Draco realizes that the head the killer wants will be his.

There's a tease for the next episode, as a body in the iron maiden in the museum turns out to be real. The detectives call the police and, well, that's the end of their adventures.

Seeing as how this was supposed to be a House of Wax series, the sets from the original film are used in this movie. Tony Curtis also appears in a cameo and the story is narrated by William Conrad.

Unique combination of well produced 60's horror film and poorly used gimmick.

[Charlesc-5 · 6/10 · 12 February 2022]

This is unique because, IMO, it was a great opportunity wasted by lazy editing.

To make sense of this, you should know the "backstory" that the producers shot this for a TV series, but it never got picked up by a network.

When they failed to get the TV show scheduled, they decided to patch together what they did shoot to make it a feature movie release (a very similar story to David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive").

As for the movie, this is a beautifully costumed, colorful, well lit, well made story with familiar faces set in London via Jack the Ripper. A notch above the average horror film.

BUT THEN COMES THE FEAR FLASHER AND THE HORROR HORN.

This is the most puzzling, wonderful and disappointing aspect of this. In the beginning, William Conrad's voice tells you to 1) close your eyes when you see the fear flasher and 2) turn your head when you hear the horror horn. This was reminiscent to Vincent Price's intro to "The Tingler", classic "gimmick" horror movie.

If you were in a theater where you can't fast forward and you've never seen the film before, this becomes a most interesting game of suspense. You are forever anticipating when the flashing may start or the horn may start sounding. (it wasn't really a horn, rather, an electronic sound)

In execution, however, the flash and the horn are terribly misused. First off, while we're given discreet instructions for either a visual or audible warning, the flashing and the horn ALWAYS happen at the same time.

They could have really played with us. Thank goodness they didn't tell us to turn our heads in one direction when you hear the horn but turn it in the other direction when it's just the flashing and use our hands to cover our faces when both were playing and then... At least they didn't go THAT far!

To my disappointment, however, the movie really DIDN'T have anything that merited such a gimmick. The fear flasher+horn were obviously added on after the fact. Compare that with the William Castle gimmicks which were clearly part of the story from the start with movies such as The Tingler.

But to make things more of a waste, when they *do* use the flash+horn it's at the WRONG TIMES. If you were "courageous" enough to keep looking, what your eyes were closed for that moment didn't show anything gruesome at all!

Better would have been to have turned the horn off, but keep the screen flashing. Then, to play with the audience's imagination, play gruesome sound effects with voices reacting to what's going on... then cut to an "after" shot.

Even with this fail, this movie remains a treat. Not only is it ironically funny to deal with the Fear Flasher, but the movie was pretty good without it. Not a classic, but a unique entry into the genre of 1960's color horror and a better movie than many others.