Although there were a lot of god-awful films of the 1960s, this final film for Boris Karloff would rank as my pick for the worst horror film of the decade. Now I am sure that there still might be a worse one hiding out there somewhere, but considering how many 60s schlock horror films I have seen, by declaring it the worst, I am saying a lot about just how poorly made this mess of a film was. Heck, it was so bad that I doubt if Ed Wood, Hershell Gordon Lewis or Al Adamson could have done worse!! BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN and RAT PFINK A BOO-BOO all are better than THE FEAR CHAMBER--it's THAT bad!!
The biggest problem is that you soon notice that the film's plot, at times, is incomprehensible. Additionally, there are many scenes that simply appear rather randomly as if the film were edited with a meat cleaver! So what's it all about? I'll TRY to tell you, but it won't be easy! The film begins with two people in some sort of heat-resistant suits. How they got to where they are and what they are doing is completely unknown, though the female is apparently talking to her father (Karloff) who is apparently miles away in a comfortable office while the two are in a Hell-like place full of flames and bathed in orange. Suddenly, and rather inexplicably, the scene abruptly changes to a laboratory where sick and horrible demonic human sacrifices are made. However, after seemingly killing an innocent lady, you find out it's all a ruse to scare the woman--thus producing some unknown liquid from her body that they feed to a rock creature. The creature is one of the cheesier looking "monsters" of the age--that's for sure. It seems that it lives off the fluid and they are trying to make the rock-thing grow. However, when a lady is REALLY killed by the rock-thing, Karloff calls off the experiment.
The next section seems as if perhaps Karloff was too sick to work further, as the action then switches to two of his depraved assistants. It seems that they want to continue feeding the creature because it has apparently made them promises of power and wealth. I don't know about you, but if a rock promised me ANYTHING, I'd be a bit skeptical! However, to apparently please the rock (!?), they hire more unsuspecting ladies--including a stripper who takes off her clothes for no reason whatsoever. While the lady looked really weird with her makeup, she did have a nice body and so she was apparently a cheap attempt to wake up the bored audience!! There's a little more to it than this, but frankly none of it made any sense, the sets were cheap and garish and the dubbing was bad--even Karloff's own dialog!! Throughout the film, his lips and what he says are at least a second or two out of sync--which is odd, because is IS his voice and that IS what he's saying but it just isn't at all coordinated. Plus, even if this had been competently done, how dumb is it to have what looks like a house of horrors in a modern computer lab?! The acting is rotten, the direction is indifferent and the entire film looks cheap and stupid. Sadly, though, it's just bad---not bad in a funny way that might make it fun to laugh at with friends.
What makes this whole mess so appalling, however, is that it was a horrible conclusion to a great actor's career. Karloff deserved better and I have no idea why he chose to make this Mexican mess. Could he have needed the money that badly?! Karloff should have called it quits with TARGETS or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"--both of which were exceptional efforts from his final years in film.
The biggest problem is that you soon notice that the film's plot, at times, is incomprehensible. Additionally, there are many scenes that simply appear rather randomly as if the film were edited with a meat cleaver! So what's it all about? I'll TRY to tell you, but it won't be easy! The film begins with two people in some sort of heat-resistant suits. How they got to where they are and what they are doing is completely unknown, though the female is apparently talking to her father (Karloff) who is apparently miles away in a comfortable office while the two are in a Hell-like place full of flames and bathed in orange. Suddenly, and rather inexplicably, the scene abruptly changes to a laboratory where sick and horrible demonic human sacrifices are made. However, after seemingly killing an innocent lady, you find out it's all a ruse to scare the woman--thus producing some unknown liquid from her body that they feed to a rock creature. The creature is one of the cheesier looking "monsters" of the age--that's for sure. It seems that it lives off the fluid and they are trying to make the rock-thing grow. However, when a lady is REALLY killed by the rock-thing, Karloff calls off the experiment.
The next section seems as if perhaps Karloff was too sick to work further, as the action then switches to two of his depraved assistants. It seems that they want to continue feeding the creature because it has apparently made them promises of power and wealth. I don't know about you, but if a rock promised me ANYTHING, I'd be a bit skeptical! However, to apparently please the rock (!?), they hire more unsuspecting ladies--including a stripper who takes off her clothes for no reason whatsoever. While the lady looked really weird with her makeup, she did have a nice body and so she was apparently a cheap attempt to wake up the bored audience!! There's a little more to it than this, but frankly none of it made any sense, the sets were cheap and garish and the dubbing was bad--even Karloff's own dialog!! Throughout the film, his lips and what he says are at least a second or two out of sync--which is odd, because is IS his voice and that IS what he's saying but it just isn't at all coordinated. Plus, even if this had been competently done, how dumb is it to have what looks like a house of horrors in a modern computer lab?! The acting is rotten, the direction is indifferent and the entire film looks cheap and stupid. Sadly, though, it's just bad---not bad in a funny way that might make it fun to laugh at with friends.
What makes this whole mess so appalling, however, is that it was a horrible conclusion to a great actor's career. Karloff deserved better and I have no idea why he chose to make this Mexican mess. Could he have needed the money that badly?! Karloff should have called it quits with TARGETS or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"--both of which were exceptional efforts from his final years in film.