Director: Harald Reinl
Script: Manfred Kohler
Cast: Lez Barker, Karin Dor, Christopher Lee, Karl Lange, Christine Rurter, Vladimir Medar, Dieter Eppler
Running time: 84 minutes
Year: 1967
Certificate: 15
Also known as Blood Demon, The Snakepit and the Pendulum and The Castle of the Walking Dead, The Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism is Euro gothic horror at the most fantastical end of the spectrum. In fact, much of the film follows a small group of travellers as they traverse through a sometimes surreal and nightmarish landscape, where literally anything strange can happen.
The version under review here includes a prologue, which has been missing from a number of previous releases, and this opening is a real doozy, as we see Count Regula (Christopher Lee) being sentenced for his despicable crimes, in this case to die by quartering, whereby each limb is tied to a horse, which are then all driven forward simultaneously, thus pulling the prisoner apart. And, prior to this execution, played out in the town square, Regula also suffers a similar fate to Barbara Shelley, in Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, whereby a spiked mask is forced onto his face, before he’s paraded through the streets, prior to being executed.
The film then progresses 35 years forward, to introduce us to Roger Mount Elise, a top lawyer, being accosted by a strange old man, with a wooden leg, who presents him with an invitation to attend Castle Andemine where a certain Count Regula wants to meet him in order to explain to him his true background; seeing as Roger is an orphan and never knew his parents. The Count has been busy, it seems, since he also got his minion to hand out another invite, but to the lovely Lillian (played by Karin Dor).
After stopping her abduction by marauders on the road, Roger (Lex Barker) and Lillian end up travelling together, along with her maid, a very nervous driver and a thief disguised as a cleric. Their journey is full of dangers and strange landscapes ending in the forest surrounding the ruined castle, where bodies hang from most of the trees on either side of the coach path.
They find an entrance down into the crypt and are soon introduced to the Count by his violent manservant, who seems to enjoy all the torture and killing that his master gets him to do on his behalf. It seems that the Count wants his revenge on the families that sentenced him to die and our travellers are the final two descendants that he’s yet to dispatch. But he also wants much more from the virginal Lily, much more…
Torture Chamber is a fun piece of Euro horror that seems ripe for rediscovery. Not only is it a lot of fun, but it looks great too, with some fantastic sets and plenty of moody lighting to enhance them. The acting is marred by some very obvious dubbing in places, but the cast do their best with a very basic storyline and some pretty dire dialogue. But it’s all cheesy, schlocky fun, and is actually more of a family horror film, since there’s hardly any blood, and little in the way of flesh shown and, because it has a surreal, fantastical feel to it, any ‘horror’ elements feel safer, ‘at a distance’, if you like. Plus, the picturesque Bavarian locations are closer to Hansel and Gretel than Hammer Horror.
Torture Chamber is a solid gothic tale marred only by an unoriginal plot, a reduced role for Christopher Lee (he only really appears after nearly an hour into the film!) and some dubious musical cues, which didn’t really work for me. For example, some of the travelling music sounds like something that you might see used in a 70’s UK sitcom. The print here looks fabulous and the vivid colours really pop out, including some weird orange sky filters.
The Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism is being distributed by 88 Films on Blu-ray. There are a number of extras on the disc including:
Audio commentary with film critics Kim Newman and Barry Forsham – Kim and Barry are good value as usual and demonstrate their extensive knowledge of all things Euro horror including reeling off a long list of alternative titles for the film. Apparently it was shot in the same Bavarian location as family favourite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Digest version (17 mins) – Presented under the title Count Dracula’s Torture Chamber, and is missing the lead-in scene.
Original German trailer (3.13 mins) – In German language, obviously
Modern trailer (1.08 mins) – A better, more succinct trailer
Film locations 1967 Vs 2020 featurette (8mins) – Markus Wolf presents the locations as they are today compared with in the film. To be honest not a lot has changed.
