Im Banne des Unheimlichen

Basically all of these German movies based on the Edgar Wallace novels are being pretty silly and even bad ones but thing about them it that they are being so (delibertatly) silly that it actually does work out as great entertainment.

The psychedelic '60's was nearing its end, so so was this movie series, featuring the Inspektor Higgins characters. And I'm also glad because of that, since there is no way really that this type of movie would had worked out in any other decade than the '60's. It's perfectly silly and laid back all, as if it simply doesn't seem to worry about the fact that it's being a pretty silly and bad movie.

Germans are not exactly know for their great humor but there are of course some exception here and there. And this movie does really feature some amusing comedy, that is being quite cheap and predictable but it works out thanks to its fine timing and the handling by its actors. The actors all play their roles as straight as possible, which is often something that can strengthen a movie its comedy actually.

As for the movie and story itself; it really is being a very typical crime/mystery movie, in which a murdered needs to be literally unmasked. There is really nothing specular or special about any of it and some moment really don't make that much sense but at least it has a pretty cool killer; a person in a skeleton costume that kills people with his poisonous ring. But really, it just isn't the story that makes this movie such an effective and fun one to watch; it simply is its '60's atmosphere and tone throughout the movie, combined with fine humor and plenty of deliberately silly moments.

Simply effective as some great entertainment.

7/10

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At the burial of Sir Oliver, witnesses hear a terrible laughter, and quickly the rumour spreads that Sir Oliver returned from the dead - as a walking skeleton. His brother Cecil (Wolfgang Kieling) soon suffers from persecution mania, because everybody he knows seems to be the target of an (attempted or successful) assassination. Inspector Higgins (Joachim Fuchsberger) has no clue why, but reporter Peggy Ward (Siw Mattson) pushes the investigation a bit with her reckless curiosity.

The cast also includes Hubert von Meyerinck as Sir Arthur, clearly trying to make a difference from his predecessor Schürenberg with little human touches such as his musical interests, Pinkas Braun in a typical twisted role as a man who could be a bad guy as well as a good guy, and Lil Lindfors who gets to sing a great song whose lines ("I wanna feel my heart beat") seem quite ironic if you consider it's all about a "zombie". The undead may look a bit silly on still photos, but believe me, it's scary enough in the film. It inspired the title character of the comedy "Der Wixxer" (2004). Something that didn't work was the make-up for Ramiro: he looks green like a Martian, not olive like a Creole. Nonetheless, tremendous entertainment!

You can say what you want about crime writer Edgar Wallace, but one thing you can never fault is his imagination - and here, once again, director Alfred Vohrer has created a brilliantly entertaining film from one of Wallace's over the top novels. This film features all the things that make the Krimi genre great; from the refined atmosphere all the way down to the bizarre plot line. The film's most striking element is undoubtedly the murderer, who wears a skeleton costume and a bowler hat; echoing the lead character in Umberto Lenzi's cool comic book crime flick Kriminal. The plot focuses on the death of a man named Sir Oliver. There is a disruption at his funeral when there are reports of the corpse laughing; and soon after his brother Sir Cecil (apparently quite a noble family) begins to believe that Sir Oliver has come back from the dead and it's not long before several people are being picked off by a skeleton costume-wearing killer with a bizarre murder weapon! Naturally, Scotland Yard looks into the deaths...

The thing I like most about this genre is the style, and director Alfred Vohrer has once again ensured that his film is memorable. The atmosphere on display in this film is simply stunning; the vibrant colour scheme is striking while the lighting is very well used. The plotting, as ever, is slightly confusing; although there is not as many subplots in this film as there have been in other Edgar Wallace outings. The killer is a real masterpiece creation; the suit does look slightly silly, but the way that the killer silently creeps around and the way that the mouth moves on the costume are really great. The murder weapon is another original idea; instead of using a gun or a knife like other murderers, this one uses a ring with a scorpion's tail that delivers the victim with a dose of deadly (and undetectable!) poison. The film plods along nicely for most of its running time and we eventually boil down to the ending; which is completely confusing to say the least. Still, while this is not the best of the genre; it's still a very effective little film and I'm sure Krimi fans will enjoy it!

Actually it is Inspector Higgins, played by Joachim Fuchsberger ... and he did a few of these movies. I remember that I loved them as a kid, even if they were done way before I was even born. But I had a thing for crime stories anyway, so that wasn't that hard actually.

They may be more about the mystery and us guessing who the culprit is all along. And while Higgins is no Sherlock Holmes, this is not supposed to be any Holmes either ... there are elements of Giallo I reckon in this ... with the fake red blood and the killings ... and the story quite frankly. A nice little movie and throwback ... when criminals coorparated after you apprehended them ... for no good reason at all....

1968's "The Zombie Walks" ("Im Banne des Unheimlichen" or Under the Spell of the Unknown) is perhaps better known to American audiences as "The Hand of Power," the actual title of the Edgar Wallace source novel though a less enthralling one. Like the earlier example "The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle," it's another crime drama laced with horror elements, more pronounced here with its killer dubbed 'The Zombie' or 'The Laughing Corpse' and sporting skull mask with a mouth that opens to audibly exhale, his method of murder a signature ring with poison scorpion stinger. Director Alfred Vohrer and star Joachim Fuchsberger were old hands in this series, the script mostly played for laughs, kicking off with the funeral of Sir Oliver, supposedly killed in an airplane crash, insane laughter emanating from his coffin, his brother Sir Cecil (Wolfgang Kieling) insisting on seeing the dead man walking as a zombie. Numerous questions abound: is Sir Oliver still alive, what are those excessive payments from Sir Cecil all about, how does the fetching female reporter (Siw Mattson) stay one step ahead of the law, and why does she assume that mouth to mouth resuscitation equals making out? The answers aren't always forthcoming, and too many characters again make it difficult to pin down a single suspect, but for a later Wallace entry it manages to stand on its own.