''Chamber of Horrors'' is a 1966 American psychological

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Hy Averback Hyman Jack Averback (October 21, 1920 – October 14, 1997) was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director. Early years Born in Minneapolis, Averback moved to California with his family when he w ...

and starring Patrick O'Neal,

Cesare Danova Cesare Danova (March 1, 1926 – March 19, 1992) was an Italian television and screen actor. Best known for his roles in ''The Captain's Daughter'' (1947), ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964), '' Chamber of Horrors'' (1966), ''Mean Streets'' (1973), and v ...

Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White (12 May 1903 – 6 May 1991) was a British character actor of stage, film and television. He achieved international recognition for his role as Colonel Pickering in the film version of the musical ''My Fair Lady'' (1964). Ea ...

Wayne Rogers William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 – December 31, 2015) was an American actor, known for playing the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre in the CBS television series ''M*A*S*H'' and as Dr. Charley Michaels on ''House Calls'' ...

and

Laura Devon Laura Devon (born Mary Louise Briley; May 23, 1931 – July 19, 2007) was an American actress, singer, and model. Early life Laura Devon was born May 23, 1931, in Chicago. Her birth name has been given as either Mary Lou Briley or Mary Laura Br ...

. The screenplay is by

Stephen Kandel Stephen Kandel (born April 30, 1927) is an American television writer. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1950. Filmography He has written episodes for many popular series, from ''Sea Hunt'' in the 1950s through ''MacGyver'' in the 1980s, wi ...

, from a story by Kandel and

Ray Russell Ray Russell (September 4, 1924 – March 15, 1999) was an American editor and writer of short stories, novels, and screenplays. Russell is best known for his horror fiction, although he also wrote mystery and science fiction stories. His most ...

. The film was released to theatres but was originally shot as a

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Allmovie
via

NYTimes.com ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, accessed 29 September 2008. and a pilot film for a proposed series called ''House of Wax''.Horror-Wood.com
It was released theatrically because it was considered too intense for television at the time. The film used the

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

s of the Fear Flasher (the screen flashing red for several seconds) and the Horror Horn (an audible alert) to alert viewers to grisly moments. The gimmicks were added (including a cameo appearance by

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

) to increase the running time. There are plot similarities between this and ''

Dark Intruder ''Dark Intruder'' is a 1965 horror film made for TV that was released theatrically, and starring Leslie Nielsen, Mark Richman and Judi Meredith. The film is set in San Francisco in 1890 concerning playboy sleuth and occult expert Brett Kingsf ...

'', which was released the previous year. The film is narrated by

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

Plot

Anthony Draco (Danova) and Harold Blount (Hyde-White) are proprietors of a

wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubbe ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

who are also

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

sleuth Sleuth may refer to: * Detective *Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears Computing * The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software *SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107 Entertainment and media *Cloo Cloo (stylized ...

s. They are drawn into the investigation of Jason Cravette (O'Neal), an insane murderer who kills a woman and then "marries" her. They help the police capture him, and he is convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. He escapes while being transported by chopping off his own hand. Presumed dead by the police, Cravette flees to New Orleans. With a hook in place of his severed hand, and under an assumed name, he plots vengeance on all who "betrayed" him. As part of his plan, he takes the prostitute Marie Champlain in his charge, turning her into a "lady" and returning with her to Baltimore. There he sets Marie on a mission to seduce the judge who condemned him in order to trap and murder him. After killing the judge, he chops off the judge's arms and head, obscuring his identity. Draco and Blount discover the crime scene and realize the judge has been murdered, and that the murderer toasted the crime with champagne after butchering him. With only the report of a mysterious blonde as a clue, Draco and Blount seek out one of the judge's friends who reveals the judge's sordid fondness for women, as well as the name "Marie" of his latest dalliance. After tracking Marie to her home address, Draco calls on her. Using the missing judge as a reference, Draco asks Marie to pose for him in order to make a wax model of her. Overhearing Draco's offer, Cravette encourages Marie to accept the offer, as well as Draco's subsequent proposal for an evening on the town. While Draco is distracted with Marie, Cravette kidnaps Dr. Cobb, who had testified at Cravette's trial, murdering him and also severing his hands, which he sends to the police with a cryptic note. Draco and Blount conclude that the mysterious murderer is delivering a corpse of a man to the police piece-by-piece, with the arms and head still missing. When Draco accidentally surprises Marie with a wax dummy of the dead judge, she realizes her role in the murders and tells them the story of the man with the severed hand she met in New Orleans. Confronted with a wax dummy of Cravette, Marie tells them that he is the man she met in New Orleans. Now realizing that they are up against a man they thought dead, and that he is no doubt seeking to kill the rest of his enemies as a way of finishing the "body", Draco, Blount, and the police set up a dragnet for the escaped murderer. Cravette is apparently apprehended by one of the patrolmen (Rogers) who originally arrested him. But Cravette kills him with a pistol concealed in a mock hand over his severed hook, sending his arms to the police. Draco, knowing that he is intended to be the "head" of Cravette's assembled revenge corpse, concludes that Cravette will come for him in his wax museum. Remaining inside his museum all night with Marie and Blount, and with the police protecting the building, Draco awaits the arrival of his deadly nemesis. Cravette evades the police stakeout by sneaking into the building through the roof. After distracting and knocking out Draco's companions one by one, Cravette confronts Draco, telling him he wants his head. After a struggle using antique weapons, Cravette is impaled in ghastly fashion on his own wax image. In the concluding scene, it is revealed that Marie was given a light sentence of two years. Draco and Blount then notice that the female wax dummy in their exhibit of an

iron maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

is "too real." Realizing that she is an actual murder victim, they call for the police.

Cast

* Patrick O'Neal: Jason Cravette/Jason Caroll *

: Anthony Draco *

: Harold Blount *

: Marie Champlain *

Patrice Wymore Patrice Wymore Flynn (born Patricia Wymore; December 17, 1926 – March 22, 2014) was an American film, television and stage actress of the 1950s and 1960s, known for her marriage to Errol Flynn. Early life and stage career Born Patricia Wymor ...

: Vivian *

Suzy Parker Suzy Parker (born Cecilia Ann Renee Parker; October 28, 1932 – May 3, 2003) was an American model and actress active from 1947 until 1970. Her modeling career reached its zenith during the 1950s, when she appeared on the covers of dozens of ma ...

: Barbara Dixon * José René Ruiz Martínez (credited as Tun Tun): Senor Pepe De Reyes *

Philip Bourneuf Philip Bourneuf (January 7, 1908 - March 23, 1979) was an American character actor who had a long stage career before appearing in films. Early years The son of engineer Ambrose Bourneuf and his wife, the former Josephine Comeau, Bourneuf was ...

: Insp. Matthew Strudwick *

Jeanette Nolan Jeanette Nolan (December 30, 1911 – June 5, 1998) was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series '' The Virginian'' (1962–1971) and ''Dirty Sally'' (1974), and in films such as ''Macbeth'' ...

: Mrs. Ewing Perryman *

Marie Windsor Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen; December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000) was an American actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic film noir features ''Force of Evil'', ''The Narrow Margin'' and '' The Killing''. Wi ...

: Madame Corona *

: Police Sgt. Jim Albertson *

Vinton Hayworth Vinton Hayworth (June 4, 1906 – May 21, 1970), also known as Jack Arnold and Vincent Haworth,Although some sources cite Vinton Hayworth's real surname as Haworthwhich clearly shows the surname as Hayworth. The genealogy site indicates that his ...

: Judge Walter Randolph *

Richard O'Brien Richard Timothy Smith. known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, composer, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in 1973, which has remained in conti ...

: Dr. Romulus Cobb * Inger Stratton: Gloria *

Berry Kroeger Berry Kroeger (October 16, 1912 – January 4, 1991) was an American film, television and stage actor. Career Kroeger was born in San Antonio, Texas. He got his acting start on radio as an announcer on ''Suspense'' and as an actor, playing fo ...

: Chun Sing *

: Mr. Julian (uncredited) *

Lyle Latell Lyle Latell (born Lyle Zeiem; April 9, 1904 – October 24, 1967) was an American character actor. He was perhaps best known for playing Pat Patton in the ''Dick Tracy'' film series. Biography Latell was born Lyle Zeiem on April 1904 in ...

as Trainman (uncredited)

Home media

''Chamber of Horrors'' was released on DVD by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

in September, 2008 with a co-feature, ''

The Brides of Fu Manchu ''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' is a 1966 British/West German Constantin Film co-production adventure crime film based on the fictional Chinese villain Dr. Fu Manchu, created by Sax Rohmer. It was the second film in a series, and was preceded by ...

''.BestBuy.com
accessed 29 September 2008.

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chamber Of Horrors (1966 Film) 1966 films 1966 horror films American horror television films Films directed by Hy Averback Warner Bros. films Films scored by William Lava Television pilots not picked up as a series 1966 directorial debut films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Home media

See also

Notes

External links