Loosely based upon Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the violently titled West German film The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967), directed by Harald Reinl, is a meandering 18th century set gothic horror mood piece starring the legendary Christopher Lee. For those of you who revel in the wild extravagance of how some of these European horror pictures have a list of different titles around the world, here we go – The Blood Demon, The Snake Pit and the Pendulum (perhaps an abandoned Indiana Jones title as well), Blood of the Virgins, and lastly, Castle of the Walking Dead.
Now, reading that primary title, the first question might be. . . just who is this Dr. Sadism? And, of course, the answer that only makes sense is that it is clearly no one. Simply a ticket selling movie title, our closest wielder of the titular position is Count Frederic Regula (Lee) – a country castle living elite who has been caught kidnapping and draining the blood of virgins. . . until his thirteenth and final would-be victim, Baroness von Brabant (Karin Dor – Bond girl Helga Brandt from You Only Live Twice), escapes and warns everyone of the otherworldly evil going on in the secretive stone abode.
Like any good Christian community in Germany, the townsfolk take umbrage with his nefarious actions – deciding to pierce him with an iron maiden mask, only to follow it up with some drawing and quartering, but not before he can curse those who have decided upon these torturous actions.
Flash forward thirty-five years and wealthy lawyer Roger Mont Elise (Lex Barker – yes, Tarzan himself) and Baroness Lilian von Brabant (Dor again as the daughter) have been summoned (separately) by an unknown Count, Regula, to his secluded castle. With both of them having been protected from their past, they have no clue that they are the descendants of the people who sentenced and fingered the virgin killing royal.
Eventually meeting up, they are taken by a Coachman (Dieter Eppler). . . along for the unlucky ride. They are also joined by a rough around the edges priest, Pater Fabian (Vladimir Medar), and Lilian’s trusted maid Babette (Christiane Rücker).
A coach ride that will soon become a fever dream, nothing will be exactly as it seems. Thieves will be in hot pursuit, inns that were fine a month ago will be ransacked and burned, a dumb mute might not be what he seems, trees will feature limbs that seem humanlike, and bodies will hang from the forest trees – and these poor travelers are not even at the dreaded castle yet.
Macabre and atmospheric, the vivid colours (a bit like the work of Italian film maker Mario Bava) and grotesque paintings that haunt the castle walls (somewhat resembling the works of Hieronymous Bosch) meet a certain Roger Corman esthetic (think of his Edgar Allan Poe works), making for a nightmarish and abstract piece – which might not be for some. Nonetheless, when Lee’s Regula returns (with frightening hairdo and iron maiden pockmarked face), a cheap regular Dracula he is not. . . for he is a sinister risen-from-the-grave foe that will be aided by his equally as inanimate aid, Anatol (Carl Lange) – though his echoing laugh is certainly not dead.
Supported by a gothic tomb-like building that would put Home Alone’s Kevin McCallister to shame, each turn brings forward snakes, vultures, creepy creatures, trap doors, torture chambers, a pit with a pendulum (but sadly no serpents in it), poisoned wine, booby traps, and so much more, it does not look good for our recently unsuspecting heroes. Can Tarzan and Jane, sorry, Roger and Lilian escape this deadly duo and their traps? Will the sketchy priest be foe or friend when needed? Might Regula become full time Undeadula by the end of the picture?
One of Christopher Lee’s unusual and eerie horror pictures, The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism is something truly different to behold. A bit like an aberrant, low budget horror version of an Indiana Jones crusade infused with everything else mentioned above, it lives with its flaws, flaunting its gothic eccentricities in oft abstract ways. So, take your chances on this horror gonzo curio, and if you dislike it, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
This film is in German with English subtitles, or dubbed English (thankfully, English actors like Christopher Lee did their own voices in the dubbed version)