Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

adriangr This little known 1966 movie tells of a murderer taking revenge on those responsible for his capture in various warped ways. His gimmick is that he has a missing hand, and is able to screw various weapons of death into the stump in order to carry out his executions. Trying to catch him are the police plus two amateur detectives who run a wax museum. Incidentally, the inclusion of the wax museum seems to be a mere side line of the plot, as it serves no real dramatic purpose except to provide some visual interest.The film is nicely shot, although it does look like a polished and extended episode of a TV show - which according to most sources, is what it was originally intended to be. The acting is pretty good, the period details is as good as any TV series from the 1960's could get away with on a limited budget. The story is interesting and entertaining, and the climactic scene is fun.But the reason for my gripe about it being a con is it's very core gimmick: the Horror Horn and the Fear Flasher. The film takes great pains to point out that these warnings will alert the audience to look away whenever a horrible thing is about to happen on screen - but every time the alarm goes off, not one damn horrible thing happens on screen! The action immediately fades out or cuts away to another scene as soon as the alarms has ended - no blood, no special effects, nothing - which makes for the lamest, weakest excuse for horror I have ever seen. At least William Castle delivered on his gimmicks. This film has absolutely no payoffs for it's promises.Gripe over, as I said earlier it's entertaining enough, but the alarm gimmick is a serious disappointment. Maybe it was added after the filming was complete, and the movie was never intended to be graphic. You could watch this on a Saturday morning and not raise a single goose-bump. Shame.

Woodyanders Cunning, deranged and sophisticated wealthy aristocrat Jason Cravatte (superbly played with lip-smacking wicked aplomb by Patrick O'Neal) gets apprehended by the authorities for murder. Jason escapes by cutting off his own hand and replacing it with a hook. He then goes on a grisly killing spree, specifically bumping off those folks responsible for his arrest. Suave wax museum curator Anthony Draco (a fine and charming performance by Cesare Donova) and his jolly partner Harold Blount (delightfully played by Wilfrid Hyde-White) investigate the case. Director Hy Averback, working from a sharp and clever script by Stephen Kandel, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, ably creates a flavorsome misty and spooky 19th century period atmosphere, stages the shock set pieces with considerable flair, and further spices things up with a few amusing moments of witty humor. The sound acting from a tip-top cast qualifies as a significant plus: O'Neal positively shines as the delectably sick and sadistic villain, Donova and Hyde-White make for a very engaging amateur sleuthing duo, plus are are praiseworthy contributions by Laura Devon as Cravatte's unwitting fair damsel accomplice Marie Champlain, Patrice Wymore as alluring restaurant hostess Vivian, Suzy Parker as ravishing rich lass Barbara Dixon, Tun Tun as Blount and Draco's loyal midget assistant Senor Pepe De Reyes, a pre-"M.A.S.H." Wayne Rogers as the amiable Sergeant Jim Albertson, Philip Bourneuf as the bumbling Inspector Matthew Strudwick, Jeanette Nolan as brash, gossipy old shrew Ms. Ewing Perryman, and Marie Windsor as classy brothel Madame Corona. Robert H. Kline's vibrant color cinematography gives the picture an attractive polished look while William Lava's graceful and melodic orchestral score hits the shivery spot. Better still, this film offers a few nicely perverse touches: Cravatte marries the corpse of his freshly strangled fiancé at the movie's beginning and plans on making a composite person out of the severed body parts of his victims. Why, we even get a lovably hokey William Castle-style "horror horn" and "fear flasher" gimmick kicking in every time something particularly horrific is about to happen. Good, ghoulish fun.

Lee Eisenberg "Chamber of Horrors" is one those obscure movies, probably available only at Portland video/DVD store Movie Madness. It portrays serial killer Jason Cravette (Patrick O'Neal) on his way to jail when he has to cut off his hand to escape. So, he returns to Baltimore and resumes his murders.Yes, the plot is pretty routine, but this movie is unique. The star is Cesare Danova, better known as Mayor Carmine DePasto in "Animal House". Does that give the movie a feeling of silliness? Maybe, but the movie mostly feels very neat. Also, the judge is played by Vinton Hayworth, aka Gen. Schaeffer on "I Dream of Jeannie". So Bluto Blutarsky and Jeannie are linked by a hook-handed maniac! Go figure! But overall, this movie is a real treat. Fans of 1960s camp will surely love it. And it might just save your life one day...A murder mystery in Baltimore. I try to imagine if one or both of Baltimore's two famous sons (by whom I mean Barry Levinson and John Waters) had directed this movie. Hmmm...

jplenton *spoilers*In the pre-credits sequence the viewer is given a stern warning about the gruesome nature of the subsequent film. For our benefit the filmmakers have added two features which alert viewers to the four horrific moments in the film. The two delightful features are the `Fear Flash' (the screen flashes red) and the `Horror Horn' (self-explanatory). The gimmicks are worthy of William Castle - the viewer has the option to `turn away' or `close their eyes' to avoid the onscreen terror. Problem is only one of the four moments is the least bit bloody, the rest are rather anaemic. Although the Horn and Flash certainly add to the film, they make a predictable moment even more so and also falsely raise your expectations about the ensuing scene. Still, the introductory warning is the highlight of the film.The film opens promisingly with a macabre wedding ceremony. A priest is being forced at gunpoint to marry a couple. The bride is a corpse and the groom the gun wielding murderer, Jason Cravette. Afterwards the priest flees to the police whose subsequent investigations are fruitless. That is until they are forced to enlist the help of a pair of `amateur criminologists' who also run a morbid waxworks exhibition - the titular `Chamber of Horrors'. The duo, the elderly and urbane Englishman Harold Blount, and the 'suave' Frenchman Anthony Draco, pursue the case whilst in tandem exploiting it to the full in their waxworks exhibition.Chamber Of Horrors wants to be like the Fifties classic House Of Wax so much it hurts. From the villain donning a black cape and hat, the 'living' head on a shelf holding wax busts, to the cinematic style and period setting. Even the sets used for the exhibitions foyer/exterior and its main display room look identical (including the camera perspectives used), and probably are. Although Patrick O'Neal has the best role as the villain, he is not as memorable as Vincent Price. Although at the finale I was 'cheering' on the villain. The remainder of the cast, especially veteran British actor Wilfred Hyde-White, camp it up admirably.Some of the films clichés certainly grate. These include the inadequacy of the local constabulary, and Draco having an old flame in practically every bar. Happily, the film never takes itself seriously and the plot is, overall, much different from House Of Wax. The killer has an interesting murder weapon(s), a range of detachable hooks, saws, etc., on the stump of his right arm. He is a progenitor, of sorts, to Trap-Jaw in the Masters of the Universe cartoon.The waxen murders on display in the 'chamber of Horrors' is, however, more interesting than the killer's. Initially I suspected the murders would mimic them. The fact that the 'heroes' have a replica of the various murders on display before the body has had a chance to cool in the morgue is totally unrealistic. Wouldn't the police, media, and relations of the deceased object to this tasteless exploitation. The criminologists are more like ghouls (just like me, the viewer, then).*Big spoiler for both this film and Tenebrae (1982)*Finally, the killer's fate reminded me of a similar death in Dario Argento's Tenebrae. Cravette is skewered on the weapon held by a waxen replica of himself. In Tenebrae a novelist is skewered by a piece of ornamentation/modern art. There is a certain irony and poetic justice in the artist's inspiration and a novelist (considering literature as an artform) being killed by a work of art.