Chamber of Horrors is a 1966 American psychological horror film directed by Hy Averback and starring Patrick O'Neal, Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Wayne Rogers and Laura Devon. The screenplay is by Stephen Kandel, from a story by Kandel and Ray Russell.
The film was released to theaters but was originally shot as a television movie and a pilot film for a proposed series called House of Wax.
Plot[]
Danova and Hyde-White are proprietors of a wax museum in Baltimore who are also amateur sleuths. They are drawn into the investigation of Jason Cravette (O'Neal), an insane murderer who kills a woman and then "marries" her. They help the police capture him, but he escapes and vows vengeance on all who "betrayed" him.
The film used the gimmicks of the Fear Flasher (the screen flashing red for several seconds) and the Horror Horn (an audible alert) to alert viewers to grisly moments. The film was originally intended to serve as a pilot for the proposed series House of Wax, but was released theatrically because it was considered too intense for television at the time. The gimmicks were added (along with a few star cameos like Tony Curtis, Suzy Parker, and Marie Windsor) to increase the running time. There are plot similarities between this and Dark Intruder, which was released the previous year.
The film is narrated by William Conrad.