The Door with Seven Locks

This British made film is highly enjoyable. Excellent performances by the cast, spectacular sets, good script, all things about this film I found enjoyable.

Lilli Palmer was excellent in the role, she is also a joy to watch as she is breathtakingly beautiful. Leslie Banks is back in a role similar to his role in "Most Dangerous Game," a man who lives in a castle, and collects torture devices.

At 80 minutes in length this film really needs to be watched and enjoyed. Very clever.

June Lansdowne (Lilli Palmer) receives a mysterious letter and a key. Upon investigation, June is told that the key is one of seven keys, meant for a door with seven locks. After a murder and a disappearance, June enlists the help of the police.

This is when an astonishing discovery is made, and June's adventure truly begins. Along the way she meets a group of suspicious characters, including Dr. Manetta (Leslie Banks), whose hobby is collecting instruments of torture for his "enhanced interrogation" room.

CHAMBER OF HORRORS is a well-constructed mystery / thriller. Banks is supremely, sublimely wicked in his role, complete with a cape and pet monkey! He sort of reprises his old Zaroff character from THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, infusing him with even more menace and insanity!

Ms. Palmer plays Lilli as someone with guts and brains. She's certainly not a pushover!

A classic movie for lovers of Edgar Wallace-inspired suspense...

Ignore the way this old clunker is marketed on DVD and disregard the American title, "Chamber of Horrors." There's nothing supernatural here and there are no Poe-like thrills. The "horrors" are a collection of old torture devices owned by the main villain, and they don't get much play. The English title gives you a better sense of the movie. You see, there's a door with seven locks which requires seven different keys. An heiress possesses the seventh key, and several unsavory characters will stop at nothing to get it from her.

The trappings of this mystery "thriller" are familiar nowadays mainly from comedies, parodies and cartoons. I especially liked that portrait with the real eyes peering out. I've seen that countless times on "Scooby Doo." Then there's the spooky tomb, secret panels in the wall, sinister servants and so on. Leslie Banks (probably best known for the original "The Man Who Knew Too Much") plays a flamboyant villain, sophisticated yet evil, complete with goatee, cape, a foreign accent of some kind and a pet monkey. This is one of the rare times I've seen this stuff played straight – more or less.

Fortunately, this movie is no more self-serious than "The Lady Vanishes." But don't expect any Hitchcockian suspense here. We have an excellent cast, headed by the beautiful Lilli Palmer and the amusing Banks. Lots of droll dialogue. ("I love frolicking in morgues.") Lots of the aforementioned mystery trappings. But no suspense. The writers haven't the slightest idea how to grab our interest, much less keep it. The director betrays absolutely no flair for this kind of thing. It's all a leaden bore. Go watch "Scooby Doo."

A murder is found to be connected to a false heir and a secret underground torture chamber.

So many of these movies were made in the 30s and early 40s.

Prior to the Film noir of the next decade.

Some are better than others. This one is a bit above the average.

There's a funny scene with the girl in the bath and when she gets out, another woman wraps her in a plaid towel. When she pulls it around her you can see she' wearing bloomers.

The sets are opulent as was the case back then and there's lots of fun intrigue.

Give it a shot on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

So many early films of the "Old Dark House" variety are the kind where actors hit their marks, look at each other, and just talk, talk, talk endless pages of dialog and exposition. Not this one! The director knows how to tell the story with a camera, and the movie has a good shot count so there's none of those lock-down shots where two or more actors talk about the situation for an eternity. Quite the contrary: the movie has good pacing, and the actors keep a good rhythm to the delivery of their lines. Lilli Palmer is quite good and beguiling as the female lead, with good support from fellow players. The plot has enough twists to keep things interesting, while the lighting, camera moves, and blocking keep the visuals engaging. For a low budget thriller, it's really one of the better examples!