[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Door with Seven Locks (1940)

A wealthy lord dies and is entombed with a valuable deposit of jewels. Seven keys are required to unlock the tomb but the keys are well hidden The heiress of the fortune and her companion investigators become entangled in a web of fraud, deceit, torture, and murder as they attempt to unlock the door with seven locks.

Based on an Edgar Wallace play this is a typically convoluted story with supernatural and horror trappings. Leslie Banks who was excellent as the sinister Zaroff in The Most Dangerous Game (1932) plays a similar frightening role complete with monkey, torture devices and menacing man servant whilst attempting to stop the lovely Lili Palmer from claiming her fortune.

The film is a well paced old dark house thriller with striking cinematography and a suitably brooding Gothic atmosphere.

Network's dvd has a disclaimer about the quality of the restored 35mm print used, but it's quite watchable with excellent sound. The dvd also has a restored 16mm version on it with a slightly improved print but the sound is more muffled. Don't let this put you off giving The Door With Seven Locks a go though. It looks far superior to 88's Scalps release.