An action-packed slog

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This takes place in the 1800s. Patrick O'Neal (having a REAL good time) plays a killer who is sentenced to jail for killing his wife and then marrying the corpse! He escapes from the train taking him to jail and is believed dead. However he's alive. He also lost his hand in the escape and has a variety of attachments (among them a hook and a meat cleaver) and sets out to kill the men who convicted him.This was originally made for TV but was considered too gruesome (at the time) and released to theatres. It was also put on with a VERY fun gimmick--the Fear Flasher and Horror Horn. When the supposedly gruesome parts were coming the frame froze, flashed red and a horn sounded to warn people! The "gruesome" parts are ridiculously tame by todays standards and wouldn't scare a child. In fact I originally saw this on TV uncut during the afternoon in the 1970s when I was in grade school! Didn't scare me at all. Still the acting is good, the atmosphere is spooky and it moves at a fast clip. Silly but fun. I give it a 7.

There's a lot to like in CHAMBER OF HORRORS, if you can forgive the copycat style that makes it look like a rip-off of HOUSE OF WAX at times. But the plot, involving a killer (Patrick O'Neal) taking revenge on those who punished him for his crimes, moves swiftly amid some handsome color settings and should keep fright fans interested. O'Neal is very persuasive in the central role.Less can be said of others in the cast--including Marie Windsor who is mainly wasted in a supporting role, Suzy Parker whose role has no depth at all and Patrice Wymore. Laura Devon is a stunning blond beauty and makes the most of her decorative assignment as the woman who sets up the men targeted for gruesome killings. The wax museum itself is an intriguing setting but the script is not up to the standards of the Vincent Price film with a somewhat similar storyline. Wilfrid Hyde-White and Cesare Danova are effective enough as the men who want to trap the killer.Recommended mainly for its excellent use of Victorian atmosphere and crisp, clear Technicolor.

This is what other horror movies want to be. It might even be classified best under "cult classic". It isn't surreal, but it does start with carbon copy looking characters and manifest them into deeper beings. The central character becomes the murderer, a man of noble birth who just has evil inside of him. He escapes execution by diving into a river in chains, so he is dead now. Or is he? You know better than that. But unlike the goofy ogres of later movies who just can't die, he engineers a way out of his dilemma which makes him very easy to identify later, but which also gives him an idea for building an arsenal of weapons. He continues his killings, but this time he's out for revenge. The good guys are a true delight. In the manner of most great camp science fiction (and unfortunately true to life in the case of law enforcement), the police are bumbling fools, and the real heroes are a trio of wax museum owners. Great atmosphere make this a great movie, and the casting of Hyde-White (My Fair Lady), is inspirational. One wonders why this super talent wasn't in more films. He gives the film an extra point or two in the rating. Trapper John also appears, as a policeman. Some day, this film will come out again to show what a great horror movie should be.

Expecting a low-grade and low budget chiller (you know: good ol' Tony Curtis has a cameo in it...), knowing that it was originally made for TV, and having seen vintage ads of it, announcing gimmicks like the "fear flasher" and the "horror horn" to protect rabbit-hearted viewers from being shocked without warning, this one's a real surprise to watch. Sure, the gimmicks are quite ridiculous, but the rest of the movie -and that is quite a lot- provides tense and moody atmosphere, above average camerawork, gorgeous colour compositions and probably the most gripping performance Mr. Patrick O'Neal -as the demented killer- has ever delivered (well, sure, there have not been many...). It's great fun watching him do scary things with his special wooden hand stump, fitted with a variety of hooks, knives and cleavers. This almost forgotten pic can easily compete with the quality of the Vincent Price Classic "House of Wax" and it's a winner - especially considering the fun factor. The whole thing looks a bit like as if William Castle would have produced and re-edited a classic hammer movie directed by -say- Jacques Tourneur (forgive me, Jacques). Great fun to watch.