The Door with Seven Locks

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.

With a story as interesting as "The Door with Seven Locks", it's shocking that the resulting film is as dull as this British movie is. Too often, the film is cerebral when it should feature action and the lack of much incidental music doesn't help either. After all, this IS a murder mystery film...and you'd think it would be more exciting.

A woman receives a letter from a dying man in the hospital. She arrives and he tells her about seven keys and how they open a crypt that actually contains evidence of some beastly crime. He gives her one key...and then some hidden person kills the man. When the woman fetches a nurse, they return and the dead man is gone...and the nurse accuses the woman of being mentall ill. But she DOES have the letter....yet the nurse is a hostile jerk...which is odd.

The woman seeks out folks to help unravel the mystery. Soon after, a masked man breaks in and attacks the man helping her...yet the other woman supposedly helping prevents her from intervening. This part of the film never made sense. What follows is a strange meeting with a sicko that has a torture chamber in his mansion....and you can only assume he plans on using it! What's next? See the film.

The basic story is excellent. But too often the film is talky, low energy and dull....when it never should have been given the story. I think playing it out with more emotion and zip would have elevated this story significantly.

This classic Edgar Wallace Murder Mystery/Conspiracy film is surprising fun. Leslie Banks, as the clever, devious, torture device collecting Dr. Mannetta (the owner of the chamber of horrors), frequently steals the scenes he's in even if his character is some what a cliche. The very lovely Lilli Palmer as Judy Lansdowne here plays the lady in distress. A woman in need of help and rescue as many others plot against her and try and steal her key to the "door with the seven locks", the seven keys to which when combined will open Lord Selford's tomb containing his family jewels. Banks as Mannetta, along with a creepy atmosphere, a good pace and an exciting climax make this better than you might expect.

Chamber of Horrors is an entertaining British horror/mystery from 1940. I have the VCI edition of this on video which I had ordered from the US.

A series of murders at a creepy mansion are connected to the secret of a door which has seven keys to it and nobody has opened for a while. A young woman tries to solve this mystery and all is revealed towards the end when the door is opened... Includes a mute butler and a mad doctor who collects items used for torture. Also a thunderstorm.

Though not a lot of action in this movie, it is quite creepy and atmospheric at times.

The cast includes Leslie Banks (The Most Dangerous Game, The Tunnel) and Lilli Palmer.

Chamber of Horrors is worth a look if you get the chance. A good old mystery.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.