Chatverock Takes itself way too seriously

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

morrison-dylan-fan Going to book tickets to see satirical comedian Jonathon Pie in March,I found out that an Edgar Wallace adaptation was being staged in March as well. A fan of the Krimi movies with Karin Dor, (who sadly does not appear here)I was pleased to find that Wallace's novel had been filmed as a Krimi,which led to me putting the scarf on.The plot:On one stormy night, Lord Edward Lebanon is strangled to death by a black glove wearing stranger who uses an Indian scarf as a weapon. Hating the mere sight of each other, Lebanon's family gather at his remote mansion to hear his will get read out by lawyer Frank Tanner. Opening the will,Tanner discovers that Lebanon has set down the rules that the family must spend time in the mansion, or else they lose their inheritance. Finding the mansion to again be cut off by weather (and suspecting that the loss of other family members means more money for themselves)the black glove wearing stranger picks up the Indian scarf again...View on the film:Limited by producer Horst Wendlandt's attempt to save money by filming it all in a studio,director Alfred Vohrer & cinematographer Karl Löb brilliantly overcome the limitations, and unfold an early Giallo Krimi. Handling black leather gloves before their arrival in the Giallo with the 1970 Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Vohrer gives each murder a highly stylised shine,gliding in smoothly-handled first person track shots,which along with building tension to the next attack,also cleverly map out the corners of the mansion. Solving the mystery with a mischievous twist, Vohrer and Löb do extremely well keeping anxiety running high in the isolated location,by using swift overlapping close-ups to draw out the fear from each family member over possibly sitting next to the killer.Leaning towards Agatha Christie in this take on the Krimi, the screenplay by Harald G. Petersson and George Hurdalek spreads the mystery across the family evenly, with them each being given quirks that crack the façade of their royal upper-crust status. Catching a handful of the Giallo, the writers keep the twists in the Krimi strong by playing allowing with the early set-ups of the Giallo,such as a haunted family gathering round the table for the final,a death in the family sauna, and an wry spin on the dope/druggie loner of Gialli.The black sheep in the family from his first meeting with Heinz Drache's smooth lawyer Frank Tanner, Klaus Kinski gives a great, fidgeting performance as the howling Peter Ross,who keeps all the family ill at ease,as the killer puts on the Indian scarf.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) This is another German-language Edgar Wallace movie from the 1960s, over 50 years old, and as in some others of these Heinz Drache plays a main character. The cast is pretty good in general. Clarin, Uhlen, Junkersdorf and Aren't are known names to German audiences and the rest of the cast are all pretty experienced as well. The standout here, however, is Klaus Kinski before his big breakthrough and it is already easy to see from this film why he became such a big star. He only really fills one niche, which is people with disorders of any kind that always have a touch of insane with them, but he fits these characters better than pretty much anybody else.The film runs for clearly under 90 minutes, is in black-and-white and has a fairly simple premise. A rich man is killed and all his relatives come to inherit a part of his wealth. However, the deceased included in his will that they have to spend six days and nights at his place and so they do. And one by one of them get killed, usually after showing their true colors and threatening (members of) the group. A simple, yet entertaining premise. Side-question: What's with their testament by the way? And you can guess yourself which member of the group the killer is. As always with these films, it's not the most obvious choice. Not at all. Alfred Vohrer was one of Germany's most known filmmakers back then. The writer has a decent body of work too, worked a.o. on the multiple Academy-Award winning "The Sound of Music". The film ends with a pretty spectacular finish. It's not really logical all in all, but still interesting to watch and one of the best German Edgar Wallace films in my opinion. Recommended.

Witchfinder General 666 "Das Indische Tuch" aka. "The Indian Scarf" of 1963 is a highly entertaining example for the German Edgar Wallace movies. Adaptations of Edgar Wallace's novels were immensely popular in Germany of the late 50s and early 60s, and these Edgar Wallace movies are sometimes considered to be the predecessors of the Italian Gialli. Even though the German murder mysteries do not nearly come up to the greatness of the Italian Thriller/Horror sub-genre (Giallo is one of my personal favorite genres), it is obvious why these comparisons are made, which "The Indian Scarf" is one of the best examples for. Released in the same year as the great Mario Bava's "La Ragazza che sapeva troppo" aka. "The Gril Who Knew Too Much", which is widely considered to be the very first Giallo ever, "The Indian Scarf" is a murder mystery that takes place in a mansion, where a bunch of relatives of a recently deceased man are to spend a week together in order to inherit his money. As the week goes on, the bodies pile up... The murders are shown from the killer's perspective, as it is the case in most Gialli. This may not be the most suspenseful thing in the world, but it is definitely a highly entertaining little murder mystery, with a nice style and interesting characters. The performances are fine, especially the immortal Klaus Kinski, who is still quite young here, is once again excellent in his role. Other very good performances include Elisabeth Flickenschildt as the imperious lady Lebanon, Eberhard Junkersdorf and Hans Nielsen. Every actor delivers, but, of course, Kinski steals the show as always. Fans of murder mysteries and cult cinema should not miss out on this moody little flick that promises a highly entertaining hour and a half!

evilskip A rich man is bumped off and it is made to look like a heart attack. His possible heirs must spend 7 days in "peaceful coexistence" before his will is read.As usual the heirs are strangled one by one(with an Indian scarf).The finger of suspicion points to anybody and everyone. Is it the lawyer? Or wife; the son; the dope addict (Klaus Kinski intense as usual); the clergyman etc. Well this film drowns in red herrings and the ending is off the wall and irritating. I'm a big fan of this series and this disappoints. Only the acting and settings gives this a 4.