Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe (1973)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Ulli Lommel

Writer:

Kurt Raab (writer)

Release Date:

12 July 1973 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

The First Gay Vampire Movie

Plot:

Story of a gay serial killer who murders young boys so he can serve them as dinner to his circle of fellow cannibals. |

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Dead Boy | Pedophilia | Sexual Murder | Serial Boy Killer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kurt Raab	...	Fritz Haarmann
Jeff Roden	...	Hans Grans
Margit Carstensen	...	Frau Lindner
Ingrid Caven	...	Dora
Wolfgang Schenck	...	Kommissar Braun
Brigitte Mira	...	Louise Engel
Rainer Hauer	...	Kommissar Müller
Barbara Bertram	...	Elli
Rainer Werner Fassbinder	...	Wittowski
Heinrich Giskes	...	Lungis
Friedrich Karl Praetorius	...	Kurt Fromm
Karl von Liebezeit	...	Herr Engel
Walter Kaltheuner	...	Schuhmacher
El Hedi ben Salem	...	Französischer Soldat
Rainer Will	...	Opfer (as Reiner Will)

Also Known As:

Tenderness of the Wolves (USA)
The Tenderness of Wolves

Runtime:

Germany:95 min | USA:86 min | USA:82 min (DVD)

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Düsseldorf, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Tango Film

Trivia:

Listed as one of the 1,000 movies that will change your life in the book by TimeOut.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zodiac Killer (2005)

Fascinating and eerie!

This movie was one of the most interesting experiences that I have ever had! On one hand, it made me cringe. (The graphic sex was a surprise; I expected the gore.)On the other hand, it was beautiful and eerie. Great atmosphere... dark and smoky. Full of mystery and forbidden pleasures... cannibalism, vampirism, underage sex, corruption... the list goes on and on. Kurt Raab was frightening as Fritz Haarman: child molester, vampire, cannibal and black market salesman. He lures young boys off of the street and takes them back to his small, dingy apartment. Once there, he molests them (before, and sometimes after he kills them) murders them in cold blood and processes their carcasses to sell as meat in this post-WW2 drama. Both sexy and revolting, Raab draws the viewer into his dark, tortured psyche without garnering any sympathy for his dilemma. He is in one word, depraved.

Fritz' neighbor is hearing strange chopping noises in the night--- she does not like his way of bringing strange boys to the apartment. Suspicious, she contacts the police, who basically patronize her, until the murders become so numerous that they are impossible to ignore any longer. Go see this film. It is a truly disturbing experience.