Really Surprised!

I'll tell you why so serious

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

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.

Although there were a lot of god-awful films of the 1960s, this final film for Boris Karloff would rank as my pick for the worst horror film of the decade. Now I am sure that there still might be a worse one hiding out there somewhere, but considering how many 60s schlock horror films I have seen, by declaring it the worst, I am saying a lot about just how poorly made this mess of a film was. Heck, it was so bad that I doubt if Ed Wood, Hershell Gordon Lewis or Al Adamson could have done worse!! BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN and RAT PFINK A BOO-BOO all are better than THE FEAR CHAMBER--it's THAT bad!! The biggest problem is that you soon notice that the film's plot, at times, is incomprehensible. Additionally, there are many scenes that simply appear rather randomly as if the film were edited with a meat cleaver! So what's it all about? I'll TRY to tell you, but it won't be easy! The film begins with two people in some sort of heat-resistant suits. How they got to where they are and what they are doing is completely unknown, though the female is apparently talking to her father (Karloff) who is apparently miles away in a comfortable office while the two are in a Hell-like place full of flames and bathed in orange. Suddenly, and rather inexplicably, the scene abruptly changes to a laboratory where sick and horrible demonic human sacrifices are made. However, after seemingly killing an innocent lady, you find out it's all a ruse to scare the woman--thus producing some unknown liquid from her body that they feed to a rock creature. The creature is one of the cheesier looking "monsters" of the age--that's for sure. It seems that it lives off the fluid and they are trying to make the rock-thing grow. However, when a lady is REALLY killed by the rock-thing, Karloff calls off the experiment.The next section seems as if perhaps Karloff was too sick to work further, as the action then switches to two of his depraved assistants. It seems that they want to continue feeding the creature because it has apparently made them promises of power and wealth. I don't know about you, but if a rock promised me ANYTHING, I'd be a bit skeptical! However, to apparently please the rock (!?), they hire more unsuspecting ladies--including a stripper who takes off her clothes for no reason whatsoever. While the lady looked really weird with her makeup, she did have a nice body and so she was apparently a cheap attempt to wake up the bored audience!! There's a little more to it than this, but frankly none of it made any sense, the sets were cheap and garish and the dubbing was bad--even Karloff's own dialog!! Throughout the film, his lips and what he says are at least a second or two out of sync--which is odd, because is IS his voice and that IS what he's saying but it just isn't at all coordinated. Plus, even if this had been competently done, how dumb is it to have what looks like a house of horrors in a modern computer lab?! The acting is rotten, the direction is indifferent and the entire film looks cheap and stupid. Sadly, though, it's just bad---not bad in a funny way that might make it fun to laugh at with friends.What makes this whole mess so appalling, however, is that it was a horrible conclusion to a great actor's career. Karloff deserved better and I have no idea why he chose to make this Mexican mess. Could he have needed the money that badly?! Karloff should have called it quits with TARGETS or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"--both of which were exceptional efforts from his final years in film.

One of the god awful Mexican horror films that Boris Karloff made in his final years and which were released after his death. Karloff was paid to shoot sequences for four films in Hollywood because Karloff was too ill to travel. These sequences were written and directed by Jack Hill who then handed the film over to a Mexican producer. The footage was then cut in with stories with actors who were filmed in Mexico and had nothing to do with the English footage. The result was pretty much truly awful films with Karloff seeming to have come in from a different planet because his performance was so much better then everything else. Here the plot has to do with some living rock found in a volcano deep that needs the hormones secreted by frightened women in order to stay alive. So the scientists make a chamber and scare unsuspecting women. Add in some other soap opera type stuff and you have a really bad movie.This is one of those turkeys that even bad film lovers like me stare at with slack jawed wonder and ponder if its worth continued viewing or if we should just hang it up. (not to mention its another of those films that makes you ponder why Ed Wood is the king of bad movies) For masochists or Karloff completeists only.1 out of 10

When Karloff completed work on The Curse of the Crimson Altar for Tigon in the UK, many believed it would be his last film. He had spent some time in hospital during the shoot, and there were a few teary eyes when the shoot was finally over and he flew home. So imagine the surprise of everyone concerned when it turned out he was already contracted to appear in another four films! This group of Mexican horrors included such near-classics as The Fear Chamber, The Incredible Invasion, Isle of the Living Dead and House of Evil. These films were all shot in a matter of weeks, with Karloff's scenes shot in California, and the rest down in Mexico. He was obviously quite frail by this point. The majority of his sixties films featured him either in a wheelchair or at least sitting/ lying down for the majority of the time, and The Fear Chamber is no exception. Despite the obvious limitations however, he still puts in a great performance.The Fear Chamber has one of the most ludicrous plots I have come across, which given the amount of "bad" films I've watched is really saying something. To summarize: a telepathic rock which feeds on the chemical produced by fear is kept alive by an ambitious scientist and his misfit band of assistants, including his insipid daughter and her heroic boyfriend, Mexico's answer to Tor Johnson, who from now on will be referred to as Lobo, a sex-maniac dwarf, a predatory lesbian with a predilection for torture, and some kind of turban-wearing hippy guru, reminiscent of a young George Harrison.Now that sounds like a great basis for a movie, and it certainly starts off strong. Disguised as a refuge for women looking for work, the scientists force one after another into the Fear Chamber, which is what a bad acid trip in a ghost train must be like. It is full of cobwebs, snakes, skeletons and satanic rituals, and the women finally scream themselves into unconsciousness. The precious fear juice is then extracted in the lab and fed to the hungry rock. Carried back to their beds, they wake up believing it was all a bad dream. Meanwhile Lobo develops an obsession for diamonds and has some sort of telepathic link with the rock. He also sports a lobotomy scar, which leads you to suspect that the casting sessions for this film were held at the Mexican Insane Asylum.Karloff's character sustains an injury early on in the film, conveniently (for him) leaving him bedridden until the final reel. This is unfortunate, as when he's off the screen the films dips low, and I mean really low. The assortment of unusual characters manage to entertain some of the time, but when the focus is on the burgeoning love story between Karloff's daughter and her boyfriend you feel yourself reaching for the fast forward button. This film has been released on DVD before, but this is the version to pick up. Not only does it feature an excellent transfer and soundtrack, it also comes with a deleted scene (see a Mexican go-go dancer get savaged by a tentacled rock!) and an excellent commentary by the writer and director of the American half, Corman veteran Jack Hill.So in a nutshell, this is a film worth purchasing as a)it stars Boris Karloff, who is worth watching in any old rubbish (which is just as well, as he never seemed particularly picky with his roles) b)It's cheap c)It's a fascinating insight into the world of low budget movie making and in case I forgot to mention it, d) It features half-naked Mexican women being tortured in the haunted house ride from hell.