Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee (1962)

... aka: Edgar Wallace: Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee
... aka: Gangster in London
... aka: Gangsters in London
... aka: Geheimnis der roten Orchidee, Das
... aka: Mystery of the Red Orchid, The
... aka: Puzzle of the Red Orchid, The
... aka: Red Orchid, The
... aka: Secret of the Red Orchid, The

Directed by:
Helmut Ashley

In Chicago, a group of gangsters led by the notorious O'Connor are playing cards when they're gunned down by a rival gang, who then toss a grenade into the room to seal the deal. A year later in London, someone is using "American methods" to try to extort money from wealthy businessman. Whoever is doing it is sending a letter of warning to each man (fashioned out of clippings from newspapers) that promises death if they do not comply. The same exact m.o. was used by O'Connor, who's believed to be dead. Since all of the bodies had been blown to bits in Chicago, O'Connor is believed to be among the dead... but is he really? That's just what Chief Tetley (Wolfgang Büttner) and Inspector Weston (Adrian Hoven) at Scotland Yard would like to find out. Thankfully, American FBI agent and gang specialist Captain Allerman (Christopher Lee) happens to be in England and is able to assist in the investigation, which first leads him to the shady Gunnar Steve (Klaus Kinski), who used to work for O'Connor in America but has since relocated to London to open a store.

Meanwhile, elderly Elias Tanner (Fritz Rasp) has received a threatening blackmail letter himself. To ensure his "good for nothing" nephew Edwin (Pinkas Braun), who's been spending all his time traveling the globe looking for rare orchids, doesn't try to hone in on his fortune in case he's killed, he signs everything over to his loyal and much-younger secretary and personal assistant Lilian Ranger (Marisa Mell) instead. Good thing too, because a couple of men posing as detectives barge into the home and gun down Tanner before the police can do much about it. Edwin shows up in town from Brazil just in time for the reading of the will, and he's not too happy he's been shut out. Further complicating matters is the presence of Kerkie Minelli (Eric Pohlmann), the gang leader responsible for killing O'Connor's gang in Chicago the previous year, who has also turned up in London for some strange reason along with his annoying, chatterbox wife Cora (Christiane Nielsen).

A third potential target, Mr. Shelby (Günther Jerschke) participates in a police sting operation that backfires when he is shot and killed. Next up is wealthy widow Mrs. Moore (Sigrid von Richthofen), who tries to flee but dies in a car crash when someone puts a giant mirror in the road to cause her to think she's about to have a head-on collision. Bank manager Mr. Dories, big game hunter and army vet Colonel Droog (Herbert A.E. Böhme) and Lilian herself (who's taken a new job as secretary at Dories' bank) are other recipients of the letter. The rival gangs are not only out to extort non-gang members, but are also at each others' throats and the death toll reaches double digits as American-style crime comes to England. Explosives are hidden in flowers and cigar boxes, a car blows up, an airplane is shot down and there's death by flying knife, razor and by other means. There's also some continual comic relief in the form of repeat offender Eddi Arent as an effete butler named Parker, who ends up working for nearly all the victims and earns himself the nickname "The Death Butler."

One of several dozen West German krimi produced during the 1960s, this is definitely not an exceptional example of its type (nor is it a horror film as sometimes categorized), but it's well made, the cast is pretty good, the plot is busy and it's at least lively enough to keep your attention throughout. As usual, it's based on a novel by Edgar Wallace; in this case "When the Gangs Come to London." Because it contains several international stars of the day who were known outside of German, it's been one of the best-distributed of these types of films. Horror fans in particular will not only note the presence of genre icons Kinski (who filled out the supporting roles of many a red herring in these things) and Lee (who also appeared in the Wallace adaptations The Devil's Daffodil [1961] and Circus of Fear [1966]), but also Hoven (Mark of the Devil [1970]) and Mell (from the Edgar Wallace-adapted giallo Seven Blood-Stained Orchids [1972]).

The horrendously-dubbed English-language version was prepped by Copri International and bears a 1965 copyright date. DVD distributor Retromedia uses this print of the film, though a better one was released in Germany. Oddly enough, Lee does his own voice in the German cut, but has been dubbed by another actor in the English one.

★★1/2

La noche de los asesinos (1974)

... aka: Im Schatten des Mörders (In the Shadow of a Murderer)
... aka: Los asesinos atacan de noche (The Murderers Attack at Night)

... aka: Night of the Assassins
... aka: Night of the Killers
... aka: Night of the Skull
... aka: Shadow of Murder
... aka: Sospiri

Directed by:
Jesus Franco

On a dark and stormy night, wealthy Lord Archibald Percival Marion (Ángel Menéndez) is attacked by someone wearing a skull mask, who knocks him over the head, handcuffs his hands behind his back and then takes him into the backyard and buries him alive. His body is promptly discovered when the much-younger lady of the house, Cecilia (Maribel Hidalgo), returns home later that evening. Police Inspector Victor Bore (Vicente Roca) is called in to investigate. So who has a motive for murder? Well, Cecilia's been unfaithful to her husband, so there's always her. Then there's poor Rita Derian (Lina Romay), Archibald's grown illegitimate daughter, who bears the scars of years of abuse at the hands of her father and stepmother. Because she was conceived with a servant, her father never even allowed her to use the family surname, and naturally Cecilia detests her. Something's definitely off about the sinister, snoopy housekeeper Deborah Potts (Yelena Samarina), as well as her extremely neurotic and mentally imbalanced husband Rufus (Luis Barboo), who's also a servant in the home. And then there's the Lord's respectable, well-to-do cousin Simon Tobias (William Berger) and his wife Marta (Evelyne Scott). All of the above (including the inspector; a friend of the deceased) are named in the will and thus could be the murderer for that fact alone.

Major Oliver Brooks (top-billed Alberto Dalbés) from Scotland Yard is called in to aid Inspector Bore. The will is finally opened and it's revealed to actually be two wills: one if the Lord dies of natural causes and the other just in case he's been murdered. The one not being used is to be automatically destroyed, and we know which one that is. The will that's read leaves everything to Rita; justified by Lord Archibald that it's the least he could do for how poorly he's treated her over the years. Naturally, this doesn't go over too well with everyone else. Cecilia loses it and sneaks into Rita's bedroom later that night and whips her with a belt. Immediately afterward, the evil stepmom becomes Victim #2 when the killer knocks her out, takes her down to the ocean, ties her to some rocks and lets the "force of the wind" do her in. As if matters weren't already complicated enough, a third will surfaces that includes Archibald's cousin Albert Pagan (Daniel van Husen), his wife Mariu (Susan Swan) and a second illegitimate offspring; this time a son named Alfred (Antonio Mayans). Oh brother.

Because of the murders, none of those included in either of the wills are permitted to leave until the crimes are solved. More people are murdered and most seem to be in accordance to a book the Lord was fond of called "The Book of the Apocalypse." In it, a passage stating "Earth to bury us. Wind to scourge us. Water to drown us. Fire to burn us" dictates a few of the deaths. Someone's covered in gasoline and set ablaze and another is drown in a bathtub. Despite the presence of multiple officers staying in the house, the killer is able to come and go pretty much as he / she / they please. By the time all is said and done, there are a dozen suspects, eight murders committed by three different people and two different Lords of the estate (one's a "phony" Lord)! Some of the plot revelations are poorly delivered and cause confusion.

If this didn't have his name signed to it (and many of his usual stable of actors), one would be hard pressed guessing this was a Jess Franco movie. For starters, it's shot, scored and scripted in a very conventional manner. This is the rare Franco film that seems to have been made under strict producer supervision; one that relies on a narrative plot and one that has very few of the director's indulgences. It's also one of the only films of his from this entire decade that isn't soaked in sex and nude scenes. There are only a couple of flashes of nudity and they're all very brief. The violence is also minimal in this near-bloodless mystery. It's going to be unsatisfying to most of the director's diehard fans, as well as most exploitation fans.

Both the poster and the credits claim it was based on the novel 'The Cat and the Canary' by Edgar Allan Poe. 'Cat' was actually a play written by John Willard, and the film itself has next to nothing to do with either 'Cat' or anything Poe had written. In actuality, it's very much in tune with the writings of Edgar Wallace. From the ridiculously endless roster of suspects to the masked assailant to the quirky police inspector who almost leaves his sombrero behind everywhere he goes, this is very similar in both style and story structure to many of the German "krimi" produced in West Germany throughout the previous decade... Only it's not quite as good.

Franco (who also appears in a small comic role) filmed it back to back with Le manoir du Pendu ("The Hanged Man's Mansion"), which featured the same cast but was never completed. Skull didn't merit a VHS release in America, but later was distributed on DVD by Image. Though competent, it's bland and ultimately forgettable.

★★

Das indische Tuch (1963)

... aka: Edgar Wallace - Das indische Tuch
... aka: Edgar Wallace - The Indian Scarf
... aka: Indian Scarf, The

Directed by:
Alfred Vohrer

Elderly Lord Frances Percival Lebanon (Wilhelm Vorwerg) is strangled to death with a scarf in his study by a black-gloved killer; a murder that is blamed on a heart attack. Various estranged relatives then show up at his country mansion in Scotland for the reading of his last will and testament. There's bad blood between nearly everyone who shows up. After all, there's half a million pound to divide up between many people and some feel like they're more deserving than others. But there's a catch to the will. Because of the venomous relations and the lot of them soiling the once-good family name, a stipulation of the will is that everyone remain in the mansion for six days and six nights to try to patch things up.  If any one is to leave early, they'll be unable to collect. And if someone is to - say - die, then their share will also be divided between the remaining family members. Lord Lebanon's lawyer, Frank Tanner (Heinz Drache), is to oversee and supervise the execution of these conditions. Immediately after the will is read, a storm breaks out, cutting out both the phone lines and the electricity, and causing a flood that effectively stranding everyone there. It's going to be a long night... and one of the potential heirs, Reverend Lionel Hastings (Alexander Engel), won't be surviving it.

The following morning, butler Bonwit (Eddi Arent) casually relays the information that the reverend has been strangled to death while everyone's enjoying breakfast. Suspicion falls upon pretty much everyone. There's the Lord's bitter wife Emily (Elizabeth Flickenschildt), who doesn't understand why she has to split up everything with a bunch of people she hardly knows. Then there's Edward (Hans Clarin), Emily and the late Lord's son, who obsessively plays the piano... and is clearly not right in the head. The Lord apparently got around as he has both an illegitimate son, Peter Ross (Klaus Kinski), an intense, possibly morphine-addicted sculptor, and an illegitimate daughter, Isla Harris (Corny Collins). And then there's Mr. and Mrs. Tilling (Hans Nielsen and Gisela Uhlen). He's an obnoxious, brutish jerk and a button from his jacket is found by the dead Reverend's bedside. She hates him and wants a divorce... but does she hate him enough to plant evidence to implicate him? Explorer Sir Henry Hockbridge (Siegfried Schürenberg), who's brought along a chatty parrot and a poisonous tropical spider from one of his Amazonian expeditions, and Dr. Amersham (Richard Häussler), the Lord's personal physician who discovered his body and may have falsified the death certificate, round out the group. And what would one of these things be without a hulking, Tor Johnson-esque cook / chauffeur / valet / handyman ("Chiko" played by Ady Berber)?

The suspect roster becomes smaller and smaller as various possible heirs turn up dead; mostly strangled to death by a scarf. Apparently, Lord Lebanon picked up a dozen of them while in India... and the killer is going to need most of them in this Ten Little Indians-style krimi based on the novel "The Case of the Frightened Lady" by Edgar Wallace. The mystery elements are just middling and the plot set-up is an all-too-familiar one, but the cast is very good, it features some good art direction (lots of use is made of catacombs and secret passageways) and is nicely photographed (most of the murder scenes are done from the killer's point of view and feature the killer's arms sticking out from behind the camera twirling the scarf). Despite the many murder scenes and a high body count, the tone is relatively breezy and there's a good deal of humor. Arent, almost always used as annoying, bumbling comic relief in these things, gets to pull it back a notch here.

Director Vohrer made tons of these films and is the most prolific of all the krimi directors. His other credits in this subgenre include Dead Eyes of London (1961), The Door with Seven Locks, The Inn on the River (both 1962), The Squeaker (1963), The Mysterious Magician (1964), Hunchback of Soho (1966), The Bloody Dead, The College Girl Murders, The Horror of Blackwood Castle (all 1967), The Ape Creature, The Zombie Walks (both 1968), School of Fear, Terror on Half Moon Street (both 1969) and probably a few more I'm forgetting.

★★1/2