What makes it different from others?

What a waste of my time!!!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's an old dark house tale crossed with a old style whudunnit. It's based on "The Door With Seven Locks" by Edgar Wallace. It's title in the UK was "The Door With Seven Locks". The alternate title was by Monogram Pictures for a U.S. release.When a wealthy lord dies, his last wishes include locking his treasure behind a door with seven locks. Greed, plotting & murder develop in a pursuit for the keys and the truth behind the locked tomb.Lilli Palmer played the leading lady. She looks marvelous in this film. The male co-lead is a detective type (and her love interest).There is also an irritable cop, partially used for comic relief. The leading ladies friend is similarly used.If you like old dark house type films, and old films in general, it's a solid watch.

A murder is found to be connected to a false heir and a secret underground torture chamber.So many of these movies were made in the 30s and early 40s.Prior to the Film noir of the next decade.Some are better than others. This one is a bit above the average.There's a funny scene with the girl in the bath and when she gets out, another woman wraps her in a plaid towel. When she pulls it around her you can see she' wearing bloomers.The sets are opulent as was the case back then and there's lots of fun intrigue.Give it a shot on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Ignore the way this old clunker is marketed on DVD and disregard the American title, "Chamber of Horrors." There's nothing supernatural here and there are no Poe-like thrills. The "horrors" are a collection of old torture devices owned by the main villain, and they don't get much play. The English title gives you a better sense of the movie. You see, there's a door with seven locks which requires seven different keys. An heiress possesses the seventh key, and several unsavory characters will stop at nothing to get it from her.The trappings of this mystery "thriller" are familiar nowadays mainly from comedies, parodies and cartoons. I especially liked that portrait with the real eyes peering out. I've seen that countless times on "Scooby Doo." Then there's the spooky tomb, secret panels in the wall, sinister servants and so on. Leslie Banks (probably best known for the original "The Man Who Knew Too Much") plays a flamboyant villain, sophisticated yet evil, complete with goatee, cape, a foreign accent of some kind and a pet monkey. This is one of the rare times I've seen this stuff played straight – more or less.Fortunately, this movie is no more self-serious than "The Lady Vanishes." But don't expect any Hitchcockian suspense here. We have an excellent cast, headed by the beautiful Lilli Palmer and the amusing Banks. Lots of droll dialogue. ("I love frolicking in morgues.") Lots of the aforementioned mystery trappings. But no suspense. The writers haven't the slightest idea how to grab our interest, much less keep it. The director betrays absolutely no flair for this kind of thing. It's all a leaden bore. Go watch "Scooby Doo."

"The Door with 7 Locks", aka "The Chamber of Horrors", is a mildly entertaining, quaint little English mystery from the early 40's. An eccentric old coot passes away, leaving his deformed son as heir to an estate, but locks up the family jewels in his tomb, cowplete with a door with 7 locks. Various family members/servants/gawkers try to embezzle the loot and get away with murder. Lovely snugglebunny Lilli Palmer, fresh from Canada, comes to make her claim on the loot, along with buddy Romilly Lunge from Scotland Yard. The evil Dr. Manetta, his pet monkey, and his mute Spanish servant almoost rule the day! Manetta has ancestors from the Spanish Inquisition(Nooooobody expects...), and he cowlects grisly little torture devices and poisoned chalices. This is a fun little flick, despite the cliches - Manetta dresses like Fu Manchu on downers, the plot twists are obvious, and the characters seldom rise above 2 dimentional. Still, the film is brisk, the cinematography excellent, and the setting and mood are cowvincing enough to forgive these udder oversights. Snuggly Lilli Palmer only worked in 6 decades-worth of moovie making, had her own tv show in the 50's, twice, and even married Rex Harrison. The MooCow says this dusty old flick deserves moore attention; find it and rent it soon! ;=8)