Wealthy, heavily insured men are being murdered at an alarming rate. Scotland Yard investigates and finds clues that lead to a ring of blind men, led by a mysterious "reverend."
Director:
Alfred Vohrer
Stars:
Joachim Fuchsberger,
Karin Baal,
Dieter Borsche
A serial killer named The Shark is terrorizing London by killing his victims with a speargun and then, dressed in a scruba-diver's wetsuit, using the city's sewer tunnels to make his ... See full summary »
Director:
Alfred Vohrer
Stars:
Joachim Fuchsberger,
Brigitte Grothum,
Elisabeth Flickenschildt
A strange, red circle appears on the neck of a man saved from the guillotine. What is its mysterious meaning? Tragically, it turns out to be something of a family curse, as each generation ... See full summary »
Several employees on a nobleman's estate show up at a former abbey, reputed to be haunted, to search for a hidden treasure. Howver, a mysterious hooded figure begins killing off those who may have figured out where the treasure is hidden.
Director:
Franz Josef Gottlieb
Stars:
Joachim Fuchsberger,
Grit Boettcher,
Dieter Borsche
A Chinese detective breaks up a drug smuggling ring and tries to find the "Daffodil Killer". The drug smugglers had devised the ingenious method of smuggling heroin from Hong Kong in the stems of daffodils.
Director:
Ákos Ráthonyi
Stars:
Joachim Fuchsberger,
William Lucas,
Sabine Sesselmann
A woman arrives at a lonely mansion and finds herself mixed up with a lunatic who has built his own torture chamber, which is already crowded with victims - and he plans to make her his next one.
Both Scotland Yard and an amateur American sleuth are tracking a master criminal known as The Frog. This moniker refers to the bulging-eyed mask worn by the evildoer, and is reflected by ... See full summary »
Director:
Harald Reinl
Stars:
Joachim Fuchsberger,
Elfie von Kalckreuth,
Jochen Brockmann
A hooded serial killer finds a novel way to murder his victims--he lashes them to death with a whip. The police try to track him down before any more murders occur.
Director:
Harald Reinl
Stars:
Karin Dor,
Harald Leipnitz,
Siegfried Lowitz
The Premiere Cut of the film featured a different, more extensive ending which was cut out in the theatrical version. This Original Ending was unseen until the 2004 DVD Release by Universum Film. See more »
The Strange Countess is one of the earlier German Edgar Wallace adaptations (or 'Krimi' films) and it's also one of the best. As always, the film takes place in the UK; although all the actors are German. The story itself is fairly strong and presents a good mystery that keeps the audience guessing and interested for the duration. However, the best thing about the film is undoubtedly the varied array of characters, which are all good in their own right and help to further the plot. The story itself focuses on Margaret Reedle; a secretary to a lawyer who is being tormented by phone calls. She has been offered another job with a Countess Moron, and has decided to take it. However, Scotland Yard has learned that somebody is out to kill the young girl and so have put their best man - Inspector Mike Dorn - in charge of keeping her safe. Around the same time, a Mary Pinder is being released from prison. She was put away twenty years earlier for poisoning, and seems to have some connection to the attempted murders.
The pacing of the film is very steady and it has to be said that there's not a great deal of real excitement in the film. However, the film works in spite of that as the story and characters are interesting enough in their own right. The mystery builds patiently throughout and small details are spoon-fed to the viewer. The bulk of the film takes place inside a sprawling and lavish mansion and this makes an excellent setting for the film and lays on a thick Gothic atmosphere. The murder attempts are good and include things such as bombing and poisoning - a near fall to the death from a balcony is the highlight in that respect. Most of the central cast will be familiar to anyone who is a fan of this sort of film as most of them appeared in other genre entries. As the plot nears the end, things get more and more complicated; and it has to be said that things get a little muddled by the end and the film loses its patient approach that served so well earlier on. Still, this is a very nice little mystery film and the climax is satisfying enough.
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The Strange Countess is one of the earlier German Edgar Wallace adaptations (or 'Krimi' films) and it's also one of the best. As always, the film takes place in the UK; although all the actors are German. The story itself is fairly strong and presents a good mystery that keeps the audience guessing and interested for the duration. However, the best thing about the film is undoubtedly the varied array of characters, which are all good in their own right and help to further the plot. The story itself focuses on Margaret Reedle; a secretary to a lawyer who is being tormented by phone calls. She has been offered another job with a Countess Moron, and has decided to take it. However, Scotland Yard has learned that somebody is out to kill the young girl and so have put their best man - Inspector Mike Dorn - in charge of keeping her safe. Around the same time, a Mary Pinder is being released from prison. She was put away twenty years earlier for poisoning, and seems to have some connection to the attempted murders.
The pacing of the film is very steady and it has to be said that there's not a great deal of real excitement in the film. However, the film works in spite of that as the story and characters are interesting enough in their own right. The mystery builds patiently throughout and small details are spoon-fed to the viewer. The bulk of the film takes place inside a sprawling and lavish mansion and this makes an excellent setting for the film and lays on a thick Gothic atmosphere. The murder attempts are good and include things such as bombing and poisoning - a near fall to the death from a balcony is the highlight in that respect. Most of the central cast will be familiar to anyone who is a fan of this sort of film as most of them appeared in other genre entries. As the plot nears the end, things get more and more complicated; and it has to be said that things get a little muddled by the end and the film loses its patient approach that served so well earlier on. Still, this is a very nice little mystery film and the climax is satisfying enough.