Fear Chamber

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Juan Ibanez and Jack Hill; Produced by Luis Enrique Vergara, for Azteca Films, released in America by Columbia Pictures. Screenplay by Luis Enrique Vergara and Jack Hill; Photography by Raul Dominguez and Austin McKinney; Edited by Felipe Marino; Music by Enrico Cabiati; Dialogue Director: Stillman Segar. Starring: Boris Karloff, Julissa, Isela Vega, Carlos East, Sandra Chavez and Eva Muller.

Silly sci-fi/horror exploitation film, integrating some of Karloff's last live-action footage into an incredible plot. Vega plays a fellow mad scientist who with big K is feeding a living volcanic rock blood from busty young women after scaring them in the title area. Oddly, Vega's famous frame is kept under wraps until her finale, being fed to the rock herself. Wide-angle lenses and flashy lighting effects do not hide the absence of development in the subplot of rocks from the center of the earth trying to learn to survive on the surface and take over.

I recently bought a Boris Karloff DVD collection, containing four of Karloff's infamous last movies on two DVDs: "La Muerte Viviente" aka. "Snake People", "House Of Evil" aka. "Dance Of Death", "The Incredible Invasion" aka. "Alien Terror" and "The Fear Chamber" aka. "The Torture Zone", all of them directed by Juan Ibánez and Jack Hill.

I was prepared for extremely trashy stuff, but after watching the extremely crappy, but extremely hilarious "Snake Peolple" I was sure I had found the epitome of a 'so bad it's good' kind of movie (I already wrote a review). Then I watched "The Fear Chamber", just to find out it is even a better example for how great awfulness can really be.

Horror icon Boris Karloff's very last movie, "The Fear Chamber" was released in 1972, three years after Karloff's death. Not only am I a big Boris Karloff fan, but I also have utmost respect for Director Jack Hill for his great exploitation classics (like "Coffy" with Pam Grier for example). If you are a fan of unintentional comedies, "The Fear Chamber" should be your kind of movie.

Near the earth's core, scientists discover a rock that is obviously alive! Hoping that the rock will reveal "all secrets of the universe", they bring it to a laboratory to examine it. But since the living rock feeds on human fear, they have to torture young women in a special fear chamber, in order to gain fear hormones and keep the rock alive.

"The Fear Chamber" is an extremely poorly produced flick and apart from Karloff and Isela Vega (who played Warren Oates' girlfriend in Sam Peckinpah's surreal masterpiece "Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia"), the acting is pretty bad too. The lab and the attached fear chamber look extremely ridiculous and resemble of the Ufo in Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space". The movie's crappiest (and most hilarious) aspect, however is its script, especially the dialogue. The head scientist Dr. Carl Mendel (Karloff) assumes, for example, that the living rock could reveal "all secrets of the universe" and "the secret of our very existence", although none of the scientists seems to have the slightest reason to make such an assumption.

This may be one of the crappiest Sci-Fi Horror flicks ever, but it is also one of the most hilarious unintentional comedies I have ever seen. The great Boris Karloff makes anything worth watching, this, however, also has a big value for it is probably one of the most absurd movies ever, and for its (unintentional) fun factor. If you had fun watching "Plan 9 From Outer Space", I can guarantee that you will laugh your ass of watching this. Very bad, But I loved it!

The "Torture Zone" version of this film released by Rhino has between 10-15 minutes cut from the Mexican version. No significant scenes are missing (except for the original credits which have a live-action background); most of the cuts are trims to existing scenes. However, the English-language version does feature Karloff's own voice, which is a bonus.

One of the handful of dirt-cheap American / Mexican horror films headlined by Boris Karloff before the horror legend passed away, "Fear Chamber" a.k.a. "Torture Zone" is "good" schlocky fun. As long as viewers go in knowing to expect an over the top level of cheese and a complete dearth of quality, they can have some fun with this. Whatever one may think of these movies, it's admirable that Karloff kept soldiering on, despite being in weak health.

The main reason to watch is to see Karloff once again give his all, even to movies that really didn't deserve his level of professionalism. Written by American cult favourite Jack Hill ("Coffy", "Spider Baby") and Luis Enrique Vergara, it tells of scientists discovering a "living rock" within a volcanic crevice. Dr. Karl Mantell (Karloff) deduces that it needs to feed upon people when they are at their most terrified.

Directors Hill and Juan Ibanez don't concern themselves with being terribly coherent, instead just throwing wacky characters into the mix to keep it just odd enough. Yerye Beirute is a hoot as an utterly demented goon named Roland, a guy who's given to uttering "I'm the king of the world" long before Leo DiCaprio made the phrase famous. Mexican superstar Isela Vega is likewise fun as a determined, cold-blooded scientist named Helga. Carlos East is okay as another of the eggheads; Julissa plays Mantells' daughter.

Stupid, poorly filmed, and indicative of its (lack of) budget at every turn, "Fear Chamber" still manages to entertain fans of this type of thing, despite itself. It's really Karloff that makes the big difference. Even in light of the "quality" level here, and his own ailing health, he remains compelling.

Five out of 10.

One of those dreary Mexican productions that Boris Karloff made toward the end of his career, "The Fear Chamber"'s only attraction for the great but now aged and ailing star must have been the paycheck. The plot, already described elsewhere, is ludicrous, the set looks like somebody's basement, and the effects are cheap.

It's always worth seeing Karloff, but otherwise the only attraction is the supporting cast which includes various beautiful women, including Isele Vega (best known for "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia"), who are called upon to add some sex to the mix. The lesbian scenes make no sense within the context of the story, but they may at least prevent you from fast-forwarding to the conclusion.