The Door with Seven Locks – 1940 | 79 mins | Thriller, Mystery | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Screwball horror yarn loosely based on Edgar Wallace’s novel ‘The Door With Seven Locks’, it was the second Wallace adaptation by producer John Argyle following The Dark Eyes of London (1939). This low-budget B-Picture is dripping in atmosphere, adding all our favourite trappings – fog, torture chambers, rats, coffins and more into a good old-fashioned murder mystery.

When Lord Selford passes away he is entombed in the Selford family crypt with a fortune in jewels. The crypt will only open if all seven locks are released. Family physician Dr. Manetta (Leslie Banks), a descendant of the Spanish Inquisitors with a penchant for gruesome torture devices, now resides in Selford Manor and plans on collecting all seven keys and the legacy for himself. The spooky old mansion features an underground torture chamber museum.

When an unknown claimant possessing one of the keys, Judy (Lilli Palmer), turns up from Canada to collect her inheritance she proves difficult to eliminate. Judy is joined by ex-policeman Dick Martin (Romilly Lunge) and heavy-eyed Scotland Yard inspector Sneed (Richard Bird) – their reservations already aroused by the mysterious murder of Luis Silva (J.H. Roberts) in a London nursing home.