FEAR CHAMBER

Karloff in his Fear Chamber

FEAR CHAMBER (aka The Torture Zone/1968). Directors: Juan Ibanez; Jack Hill.

Dr. Karl Mantell (Boris Karloff) is convinced a life form, a kind of "primordial plasma," has not only taken up residence in the earth's core but is the "source of all the untapped knowledge of the universe." [How he has arrived at these bizarre conclusions is never made clear.] Mantell's daughter Corinne (Julissa) and her friend Mark (Carlos East) descend into the earth and discover one of these creatures, bringing it back to the lab. They discover the creature feeds on hormones created by terror, so to that end these wonderful people imprison women in a "fear chamber" in which they are subjected to skeletons, spiders, snakes, pools of blood, and think they are going to be sacrificed on an altar. [A startling moment has Karloff in his priest's robes stripping them off for medical whites and going directly into his modern laboratory, which is directly adjacent to the "fear chamber."] The life form, which resembles a steaming rug, communicates with the humans via computer and kills people by sucking out their life energy as well as their terror, leaving them aged corpses. Mantell has a psychologist, Helga (Isela Vega), who spies on female applicants as they change into medical robes and seems to get a thrill out of whipping women, possibly under the influence of the monster. Brutish Roland (Yerye Beirute) is only interested in the monster because it's promised to deliver him many diamonds. Helga and Roland are apparently being played by the life form, which hopes to transmit information to others of its kind within the earth. Supposedly inspired by the writings of Poe [don't you believe it!] Fear Chamber actually has some interesting ideas and elements, but it's disjointed, badly edited and confusing [signs of post-production tampering], with highly unlikable protagonists. At times it simply seems thrown together. A scene when a woman unknowingly does a sexy dance for the monster hits a high camp note if nothing else. There are some other arresting moments amid the often amateurish absurdity. Karloff is fine, and luckily his distinctive voice isn't dubbed. This was made in Mexico the year before his death and released a couple of years later. A frustrating aspect to the picture is that these "scientists," who terrorize women and seem like complete nuts, never really get their comeuppance.

Verdict: Zestily absurd at times but not very good. **.

7 WOMEN, 1 HOMOSEXUAL AND CARLOS

7 WOMEN, 1 HOMOSEXUAL AND CARLOS [AKA 7 mujeres, 1 Homosexual y Carolos/2004). Writer/director: Rene Bueno.

Carlos (Mauricio Ochmann) loves his fiancee Camila (Adriana Fonseca) but his friends and co-workers keep telling him that every man has a right to be unfaithful. More than one person tells him that every man has a right to "seven women and one homosexual" -- whatever the hell that means [but it comes off as quite condescending and homophobic, not to mention moronic. Would the "macho" guys in this movie really want to have sex with another guy?] Despite the title and the ads, this is not a racy sex comedy, but a pretty dull, routine and conventional comedy about a guy who loves one woman but whose peers try to pressure him into being unfaithful. Who cares? As his girlfriend is beautiful the whole thing doesn't make any sense anyway. From Mexico.

Verdict: This is considered one of the better movies to come out of Mexico, which means they've really got a problem. *.

THE LIVING HEAD

THE LIVING HEAD (La Cabeza viviente/1963. Director: Chano Urueta.

A prologue shows us a bloody ceremony of the ancient Aztecs, then we're off to the future where archaeologists led by a professor (German Robles) discover a well-preserved Aztec warrior, as well as a severed head (in a kind of visor) that opens its eyes periodically and seems to be controlling things. Before long people are being murdered and the professor's daughter (Ana Luisa Peluffo), who may be the reincarnation of an Aztec princess, is in the thick of it all. At first it looks as if this silly movie might be some fun, but it isn't long before the tedium sets in and it's clear that this badly-dubbed mess is senseless and has almost zero entertainment value -- although the living head is somewhat humorous. As living head movies go, however -- and there actually have been a few -- this is by no means ahead of the others.

Verdict: Miss it if you can! *.

SHE-GIANT VERSUS THE ELEPHANT WOMAN April 1st

SHE-GIANT VERSUS THE ELEPHANT WOMAN (1968). Director: Ricardo Mendez.

Galvanized by the success of American films The Amazing Colossal Man and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Mexican producer Gilberto Roland Young came up with the idea of an ill woman who takes a formula derived from elephant glands and turns into a giant monstrosity with a hideous face and tusks and thirty foot body. The film, the low-budget but zestfully made and acted Attack of the Elephant Woman (1959), was a big hit and engendered no less than thirteen sequels of descending quality. By the mid-sixties, Young had switched from black and white to productions in technicolor and CinemaScope -- but ran out of ideas and enthusiasm. In the 13th entry, She-Giant versus The Elephant Woman -- not to be confused with Rampage of the Colossal She-Giants (1962), the fifth in the series -- zoologist Doug Moore (Clark Young) comes to Africa to study elephants and encounters yet another mad scientist, Lillian Blake (Esther Ramirez), this time a woman, who is fascinated by Angela Waters, The infamous Elephant Woman (who was killed and resuscitated over and over again). Blake is a distant cousin of Waters and has somehow managed to get ahold of her frozen body, which she brings back to life via thawing, electrical charge and -- natch -- more extract of elephant. The "she-giant" that Angela fights is not another giant woman (been there, done that) but simply a very large female elephant who wants her hormones back -- or something like that. The film is surprisingly well-acted, has beautiful settings and wide screen photography, but the Elephant Woman takes too long to appear, her battles with the real elephant are too brief and unconvincing, the FX are poor, and the romance between Moore and Blake is not for a moment believable. Followed by the final entry, Colossal War of the Rampaging She-Beast (1970).

Verdict: Skip this and look for Attack of the Elephant Woman instead. **.