‘Don’t panic… only your life is in danger!’
Fear Chamber is a 1971 Mexican horror film about scientists that discover a living rock beneath a volcano. It feeds on the adrenaline of frightened young women, so the scientists construct a fear chamber and kidnap young girls to feed the creature.
This is one of four low-budget Mexican horror films Boris Karloff made in a package deal with Mexican producer Luis Enrique Vergara. The others are Isle of the Snake People, The Incredible Invasion, and House of Evil. Karloff’s scenes for all four films were directed by Jack Hill in Los Angeles in the spring of 1968. The films were then completed in Mexico by Juan Ibáñez but legal issues held up their release until 1971. Also released as The Torture Zone
The Azteca Films-Filmica Vergara S.A. production stars Boris Karloff, Julissa, Carlos East, Isela Vega, Yerye Beirute, Sandra Chávez, Eva Muller and Santanón.
Reviews:
“It’s pretty awful, confusing, weird and horribly dubbed, but somewhat entertaining in a slapdash Z movie kind of way… at least for a while. My interest level seemed to drop off about 30 minutes in once the bizarro plot was fully established and the film then really had nowhere else to go, though there’s still the occasional laugh…” The Bloody Pit of Horror
“There’s a dwarf and a giant, a sadistic lesbian, an eastern mystic, Boris Karloff doing almost all his scenes from bed, a go-go dancer getting manhandled by a tentacled rock and a lot of screaming. The Karloff scenes, directed by Jack Hill, are much better than the rest of the film in quality.” Down Among the “Z” Movies
“Even in dreck like Fear Chamber, Karloff never once makes a fool out of himself and he always delivers his lines with the usual energetic professionalism. Wheelchair-ridden at the time, Karloff is seen mostly sitting down, in bed, or behind some elaborate control panel (at one point he’s standing in a hooded robe as part of a “fear chamber” act), and is actually in the film for a generous amount of time.” DVD Drive-In
” …it’s just lots and lots of talking. Fear Chamber tries to toss in some PG-rated exploitation, with plain-bordering-on-unattractive women stripping down to their skivvies, often with no explanation, and a mostly-bloodless body count. I kinda like the core of the story, to be honest, but the execution is pretty lousy…” DVD Talk
” …the idea that people (usually beautiful young women in various states of undress) must be nearly frightened to death to produce a substance to feed the rock is extremely contrived, and that idea contributes to the sadistic mean-spiritedness of the movie that renders it rather repellent…” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
“Loaded with goofy special effects and a smattering of nudity, this is probably the most lively, sordid, and entertaining of the bunch.” Horror 101 with Dr AC
“To Karloff’s credit, he brings some real professionalism to the torpid and forgettable lines, and things brighten up considerably when he’s on-screen. But he’s not onscreen enough. Roughly 20 of the 90 minutes feature Karloff; we spend the rest of the movie with his weirdo assistants.” The Horror Incorporated Project
“Some of the acting is beyond terrible including one scene involving a disfigured man speaking his lines like a robot […] Karloff seems to be on cruise control throughout but as mentioned he doesn’t have a lot to work with in this film. Overall the film is a mishmash of ideas, poorly constructed to form a film leaving the viewer boggled as to what they just watched.” Horror Screams Video Vault
“At its heart, it’s a fun movie that takes itself a bit too seriously near the end. There’s only so much heartfelt technobabble you can throw out to try and wrap up your story. Not that it really has much of an end. So if you like your weak veneer of science-fiction over a little bloodletting and sleaze this might be the perfect movie for you.” Outpost Zeta
” …I quite like this one because it is just so strange, so outrageous and based on such a totally goofy notion. It may all end up exactly where this sort of creature feature is supposed to end, with our heroes trying to stop the monster before it is too late, but the real fun is where it goes on the way there.” Rivets on the Poster
“Fear Chamber is a mess of a movie that’s only of interest for horror fans just because of the stories behind its production […] It’s even hard to derive cheap laughs from the movie, even with all the obvious unintentionally funny fodder at your fingertips. Ibanez shoots all his sequences poorly constantly using tight angles to hid the films low-budget origins…” The Video Graveyard
“It’s a shoddy flick in just about every respect. The editing is awful. Boris’ footage is haphazardly tossed in with the action, making it painfully obvious that the rest of the film was shot in another country. The monster costume is pathetic and even though it’s supposed to be made out of “rock”, it looked awfully rubbery to me. ” The Video Vacuum
YouTube reviews:
Watch Moodz616 review on YouTube
MOVIES & MANIA rating:
Promo video:
Free to watch online on YouTube in 1080p HD:
Watch the longer Mexican version [Spanish language] on YouTube
Cast and characters:
Boris Karloff … Doctor Karl Mandel
Julissa … Corinne Mandel
Carlos East … Mark
Isela Vega … Helga
Yerye Beirute … Roland
Sandra Chávez … Luisa Martinez
Eva Muller … Bailarina/exotic dancer
Santanón … Enano the dwarf
Pamela Parmeli … Blonde motorist
Fuensanta Zertuche … Sally Ransome
Alfredo Rosas … Syed
Carolina Cortázar … Client
Mexican title:
La camara del terror “The Room of Terror”
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