La chambre aux supplices

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.

Rather cheap looking but fairly entertaining all the same and it's fairly well made, with a couple creepy moments, and it had some great atmosphere. The cast was pretty likable except for one character, and it's enjoyably cheesy. This was a lot better then i was expecting and i liked the 2 main leads, and they had some good chemistry together, plus the finale was quite exciting. The direction was pretty good for a very low budget movie. Norman Lee did a decent job here keeping the film at a pretty good pace, but there is not any special camera tricks, or anything stylish but he got the job done. There is no gore. The Acting was fairly good. Lilli Palmer does good here and was quite beautiful and had good chemistry with Romilly Lunge. Romilly Lunge was very good here he was amusing and handled himself well!. Gina Malo annoyed the crap out of me as Judy's best friend Shut up already!!!. Leslie Banks is decent here as the doctor and did a fairly good job. David Horne did what he had to do adequately. Richard Bird did well as the Inspector. Overall worth the watch **1/2 out of 5

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.

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.

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...