Chamber of Horrors (1966)

A one-handed madman (he lost the hand while escaping a hanging) uses various detachable devices as murder weapons to gain revenge on those he believes have wronged him.

Director:

Hy Averback

Writers:

Stephen Kandel (screenplay), Stephen Kandel (story),

Stars:

Patrick O'Neal, Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde-White

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick O'Neal	...	Jason Cravatte aka Jason Caroll
Cesare Danova	...	Anthony Draco
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Harold Blount
Laura Devon	...	Marie Champlain
Patrice Wymore	...	Vivian (Delano's hostess)
Suzy Parker	...	Barbara Dixon
José René Ruiz	...	Senor Pepe De Reyes (as Tun Tun)
Philip Bourneuf	...	Insp. Matthew Strudwick
Jeanette Nolan	...	Mrs. Ewing Perryman
Marie Windsor	...	Madame Corona
Wayne Rogers	...	Police Sgt. Jim Albertson
Vinton Hayworth	...	Judge Walter Randolph
Richard O'Brien	...	Dr. Romulus Cobb
Inger Stratton	...	Gloria (one of Corona's girls)
Berry Kroeger	...	Chun Sing

Storyline

A one-handed madman (he lost the hand while escaping a hanging) uses various detachable devices as murder weapons to gain revenge on those he believes have wronged him.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | murder | carriage | street | midget | 

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Taglines:

The unspeakable vengeance of the crazed Baltimore strangler!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

La chambre des horreurs

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 99 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was a pilot for a period detective program from Warner Bros. entitled "House of Wax", padded out with various gimmicks including the red "fear flash" and "horror horn", several added sequences and guest stars with a larger screen in mind because it was considered too intense at that time for television.

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Quotes

Anthony Draco: Can you describe him?
Marie Champlain: He's... he's tall and uh... he's dark and um... uh... soft-spoken. He moves very quietly. What's wrong me? He's the easiest man in the world to identify. His right hand is missing.

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Connections

Featured in Celluloid Bloodbath: More Prevues from Hell (2012)

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Soundtracks

"An der schönen, blauen Donau, Op. 314 (On the Beautiful Blue Danube)"
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauß
Played at the party

User Reviews

Solid if flawed entry

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.