I needed a horror movie for last Friday’s watch party, and they didn’t have a lot of old school ones, so I opted for this. The snap decision paid off nicely.
Heavily influenced by Bava and surrealist filmmakers like Jean Cocteau, the woefully titled (in the States) Horror Chamber of Dr. Sadism is a dubbed German film. Star Christopher Lee is not in it much, but they used the budget savings wisely. First, they actually paid him to dub his voice in the English dub–he no doubt shot it in German–which most of his continental horrors did not, leaving him dubbed in the English versions by other actors, which is always jarring.
Second, the production values are very high. There are genuinely eerie and oddly elaborate set pieces and the castle sets are huge and gorgeous. Costuming is also very good. Nice cast, with the stalwart hero played by Lex “Tarzan” Baxter and the female lead played by the luminous Karin Dor. I know Ms. Dor through her work in various Krimis, but suspect she was cast due to her resemblance to Barbara Steele.
Plot-wise the movie plays like a more coherent version of The Terror, although there’s a lot of the Kolchak telemovie The Night Strangler in there too. Minor classic would be overstating it, but it’s surprising good, and the Amazon Prime print is gorgeous. Give it a look.
