Chamber of Horrors

In England, Chamber of Horrors (1940) bore the name of the Edgar Wallace novel it was derived from, The Door with Seven Locks.It was the second Wallace adaptation brought to the States by Monogram Pictures; the first was Human Monster starring Bela Lugosi.

In Chamber of Horrors, we see Leslie Banks virtually recreating his performance from Most Dangerous Game (1932).As doctor Manetta, he brings back the same accent, beard and moustache we know and love from his turn as Count Zaroff.

Banks has one of the seven keys that will open the crypt of Lord Selford, who was entombed with a fortune in jewels.Before long, the other six keyholders start turning up dead.Who'd have guessed?

The British Wallace pictures were put into production shortly after the British "horror ban" was lifted, a ban that put a definite crimp in the careers of Bela Lugosi and others.This one's dripping in atmoshpere, adding all our favorite trappings - fog, torture chambers, rats, coffins and more - into a good old-fashioned murder mystery.By the way, it played the U.S. paired with Boris Karloff in The Ape.