Korbin Schwertl Measured by modern technical standards, this film is a blast from the past in every way.Watch this film in expectation of seeing a relaxing entertaining film. It's a bad film done very good. The story doesn't need much or lets better say any brain at all. It's a classic monster horror flick.It's bad acting at it's best. Even the almighty Boris Karloff doesn't seam to care about his performance. The set design is so trashy, it blows your mind.But all of that makes this film so mind blowing good. It's part of the Boris Karloff DVD Box Set, Limited Edition together with "Alien Terror", "Dance of death" and "Cult of the dead". I recommend this film as well as the limited steelbox edition.To all you classic horror movie and trash freaks out there, GET IT. It's a film like they don't make them anymore. Just don't expect to get creeped out.

Adrian Smith (trouserpress) 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.

bensonmum2 Poor, old Boris Karloff. Reduced to appearing in a string of wretched Mexican horror films just before his death. I'm not sure what made him decide to do it, but this is not the way for a horror legend to go out. Fear Chamber is plain old bad. The plot makes little or no sense at all. Scenes and character seem to exist in a vacuum in that things happen that have no relation to what came before or what comes after. The cinematography and editing are shoddy. The acting is abysmal. Suffice it to say that everything I could mention is horrible. The reason I haven't rated the film any lower and the only reason to watch Fear Chamber is the curiosity value.

Casey-52 A truly horrible movie, with no production quality whatsoever and Boris is immensely wasted in a small role as a scientist who conveniently becomes bedridden before the movie kicks into sadistic gear. A live rock is found under a volcano and Boris and his assistants set up a fear chamber to terrorize young girls. They then take the blood of the girls to feed the rock. Boris gets stressed out, bows out for a while, and his assistants proceed without him, kidnapping girls, whipping them, all sorts of sadistic merriment for fans of this stuff. There is even a strip tease for the rock! I can't say to avoid this movie, there are unintentionally hilarious moments, especially the character of Roland. But extreme fans of Boris will be shocked and outraged, to say the least.