Chamber of Horrors *** (1966, Patrick O’Neal, Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde White, Laura Devon, Patrice Wymore, Suzy Parker) – Classic Movie Review 5796

The lurid 1966 period black comedy horror Chamber of Horrors was made for TV but then considered too gruesome for the home audience of the day.

Director Hy Averback’s lurid, tongue-in-cheek 1966 period black comedy horror film Chamber of Horrors was made by Warner Bros for TV as a pilot for a period detective series called House of Wax.

But, once made it was considered uber-horrible and too gruesome for the home audience of the day, so it was released in the cinemas with added sequences and cameos from guest stars, and also featuring the added gimmick benefits of William Castle-style jokey sound (the horror horn) and visual warnings (the red fear flasher) to alert sensitive viewers when the grisly scenes were about to occur. It is ‘the year’s most startling entertainment innovation!’

Cesare Danova and Wilfrid Hyde White play turn-of-the-last-century Baltimore wax museum owners who, along with their Mexican dwarf sidekick Tun Tun, (Pepe de Reyes), turn amateur sleuths and set out to apprehend a terrorising demented killer. Patrick O’Neal steals every scene with smooth chilly distinction as Jason Cravette, the one-handed madman who uses devices as murder weapons for vengeance on all who betrayed him. It is ‘the unspeakable vengeance of the crazed Baltimore strangler!’

Packed with surprises and a lively undercurrent of gory humour, this is a playful, successful shocker. Look out for the cameo appearance as a gambler called Mr Julian by Tony Curtis, who by chance was also to play a demented killer two years later in The Boston Strangler.

Also in the cast are Laura Devon, Patrice Wymore, Suzy Parker (in her last film), Jeanette Nolan, Marie Windsor, Wayne Rogers, Philip Bourneuf, Vinton Hayworth, Richard O’Brien and Berry Kroeger.

Allegedly, there are plot similarities with the previous year’s Dark Intruder (1965). It is narrated by William Conrad.

Chamber of Horrors was released on DVD in September 2008 with The Brides of Fu Manchu.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5796

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