DER TEPPICH DES GRAUENS

Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor

DER TEPPICH DES GRAUENS (aka The Carpet of Horror/1962). Director: Harald Reinl.

John Millner (Roberto Rey) is the latest victim of a secret criminal group that use small balls full of poison gas to off their enemies. His niece, Ann Learner (Karin Dor of Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz), is appalled to learn that he was involved in shady activities and was planning to flee the country without even telling her. She is pursued romantically by handsome Harry Raffold (Joachin Fuchsberger), who is keeping secrets of his own. Other major characters include Dr. Shipley (Antonio Casas), who may have come up with an antidote to the poison; Mabel Hughes (Eleanora Rossi Drago), who owns the hotel where Harry is staying and makes a play for him; portly Vane (Jose Maria Carrafel), who wants to marry her; Crayton (Werner Peters), a member of the gang who discovers the identity of the mysterious boss and hopes to take over; and the imposing and formidable Colonel Gregory (Carl Lange) whose motives are unknown. Harry also has an assistant, a black man named Bob (Pierre Besari), who is on occasion referred to as, and treated like, a servant even though he is apparently an actual operative of some kind. Then there are Inspector Burns (Julio Infiesta) and his younger associate Inspector Webster (Marco Guglielmi), who at one point wants to arrest both Harry and Ann. 

Fuchsberger and Eleonora Rossi Drago

The English title of this West German film (co-produced with Spain), The Carpet of Horror, refers to the fact that the golf ball-size weapons that contain the poison gas are rolled onto carpeted floors in the victims' homes -- the carpet doesn't actually kill anyone. In any case, the movie -- based on a novel by Louise Weinert-Wilton (not Edgar Wallace) -- is exciting and suspenseful and a lot of fun, even if you may figure out the identity of the mastermind (who brought the sinister group over from India) behind the whole racket. The boss sends messages to the group via white letters on a screen, and their HQ is located inside a garage, with a trapdoor to a lower level inside a truck. Beneath the garage is a huge tunnel filled with debris, a striking locale indeed. There's a "catfight" in the underground at one point, which means that this very entertaining flick misses nothing! The cast is an interesting mix of both German and Spanish actors. Mercifully the film hasn't got too much comedy relief -- and no Eddi Arent -- although there is some humor attached to the Bob character. 

Verdict: For once a West German krimi that isn't based on a Edgar Wallace novel even if it seems to be! ***.