Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, January 16, 2025

THE DOOR WITH 7 LOCKS

Schurenberg, Drache, Arent
THE DOOR WITH 7 LOCKS (aka The Door with Seven Locks aka Die Tur mit den 7 Schlossern/1962). Director: Alfred Vohrer. 

A librarian named Sybil (Sabine Sesselmann) discovers that her life is in danger because she's the next in line to inherit a vast fortune. Inspector Martin (Heinz Drache) tries to protect her while investigating a series of mysterious deaths. Mixed up in all this are a sinister couple named Cody (Werner Peters and Gisela Uhlen); a lawyer named Haveloc (Hans Nielsen); an ex-con -- and Mrs. Cody's nephew -- named Tommy (Jan Hendriks); a hulking horror named Giacco (Ady Berber of Dead Eyes of London); and the very strange Dr. Staletti (Pinkas Braun). As usual, we've also got Siegfried Schurenberg as Sir John of Scotland Yard, and Martin's mincing assistant, Holms (Eddi Arent). There is a lot of talk about a secret door which takes seven keys to unlock, and which various characters possess. 

Ady Berber, West Germany's answer to Tor Johnson
Yes, this is another West German Edgar Wallace adaptation, and while it has a few exciting moments, it's generally mediocre. As usual, the plot comes together at the end. The movie was previously filmed in the UK in 1940 -- it is also known as Chamber of Horrors -- and if anything is far worse than this version, which at least moves at a generally swift pace. Although the identity of the true mastermind isn't revealed until the very end, it is made pretty clear early on that there's something very wrong with Dr. Stiletti, whose experiments with pituitary glands have created the mongoloid Giacco. Stiletti wants to create a race of supermen, but his first idea is to transplant a human head on a monkey's body (the movie might have been more interesting if this actually took place). In a very odd sequence, Martin and Sybil ride down several stories in a elevator with no doors, but then go up in the same elevator for no good reason. Klaus Kinski plays an early victim. Be advised that an alleged torture chamber has very little to do with the 1940 film and there is absolutely no torture chamber in this version, just a weird hidden room where experiments take place. 

Verdict: Some entertaining elements but really nothing special. **1/2. 

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