THE DOOR WITH 7 LOCKS

Schurenberg, Drache, Arent

THE DOOR WITH 7 LOCKS (aka The Door with Seven Locks aka Die Tur mit den 7 Schlossern/1962). Director: Alfred Vohrer. 

A librarian named Sybil (Sabine Sesselmann) discovers that her life is in danger because she's the next in line to inherit a vast fortune. Inspector Martin (Heinz Drache) tries to protect her while investigating a series of mysterious deaths. Mixed up in all this are a sinister couple named Cody (Werner Peters and Gisela Uhlen); a lawyer named Haveloc (Hans Nielsen); an ex-con -- and Mrs. Cody's nephew -- named Tommy (Jan Hendriks); a hulking horror named Giacco (Ady Berber of Dead Eyes of London); and the very strange Dr. Staletti (Pinkas Braun). As usual, we've also got Siegfried Schurenberg as Sir John of Scotland Yard, and Martin's mincing assistant, Holms (Eddi Arent). There is a lot of talk about a secret door which takes seven keys to unlock, and which various characters possess. 

Ady Berber, West Germany's answer to Tor Johnson

Yes, this is another West German Edgar Wallace adaptation, and while it has a few exciting moments, it's generally mediocre. As usual, the plot comes together at the end. The movie was previously filmed in the UK in 1940 -- it is also known as Chamber of Horrors -- and if anything is far worse than this version, which at least moves at a generally swift pace. Although the identity of the true mastermind isn't revealed until the very end, it is made pretty clear early on that there's something very wrong with Dr. Stiletti, whose experiments with pituitary glands have created the mongoloid Giacco. Stiletti wants to create a race of supermen, but his first idea is to transplant a human head on a monkey's body (the movie might have been more interesting if this actually took place). In a very odd sequence, Martin and Sybil ride down several stories in a elevator with no doors, but then go up in the same elevator for no good reason. Klaus Kinski plays an early victim. Be advised that an alleged torture chamber has very little to do with the 1940 film and there is absolutely no torture chamber in this version, just a weird hidden room where experiments take place. 

Verdict: Some entertaining elements but really nothing special. **1/2. 

THE CASE OF THE FRIGHTENED LADY (1940)

Dudley-Ward, Haye, Goring, Barr

THE CASE OF THE FRIGHTENED LADY (aka The Frightened Lady/1940). Director: George King. Colorized. 

In this British version of an Edgar Wallace story, Inspector Tanner (George Merritt) investigates when the chauffeur, Studd (John Warwick), of the redoubtable Lady Lebanon (Helen Haye) is found strangled on the grounds. Suspects include the shady Dr. Amersham (Felix Aylmer of The Chalk Garden), who knew Studd in India; Architect Ferraby (Patrick Barr), who has taken a shine to Lady Lebanon's secretary, Isla (Penelope Dudley-Ward); the grounds man Tilling (an unrecognizable Torin Thatcher); and Lady Lebanon's son Willie (Marius Goring of The Barefoot Contessa), whom she wants Isla to marry. Then there's another murder ... 

Haye and Dudley-Ward

The Case of the Frightened Lady was filmed many times both theatrically and for television. West Germany came out with a version called The Indian Scarf in the sixties, which made quite a few changes to the story. The performances in this version, especially from Haye and Goring, are quite good, and there's a degree of suspense as well. The screenplay has a subtext of keeping up appearances -- and bloodlines -- at all costs, no matter how reprehensible this may be. George Blake also directed Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror.

Verdict: Edgar Wallace strikes again. ***. 

THE RED CIRCLE

The mysterious "red circle" with Renate Ewert

THE RED CIRCLE (aka Der rote Kreis/1960). Director: Jurgen Roland.

A condemned man is saved from the guillotine because the executioner forgets to remove the nail that keeps the blade from descending. Sent to Devil's Island, he escapes and takes up residence in London as the hooded criminal mastermind the Red Circle (who resembles the Shadow). Chief Inspector Parr of Scotland Yard (Karl-Georg Saebisch) and bumbling assistant Haggett (Eddi Arent) are out to stop him as he makes his way through numerous victims including Lady Dorringham (Edith Mill) and Mr. Beardmore (Alfred Schlageter). The latter's handsome nephew, Jack Beardmore (Thomas Alder), is carrying on a romance with suspected jewel thief Thalia Drummond (Renate Ewert) and becomes a suspect along with several others. Meanwhile slick private eye Derrick Yale (Klausjurgen Wussow) does his best to help Inspector Parr, who is given a deadline to unmask the Red Circle or else. 

Thomas Alder, Karl-Georg Saebisch, Klausjurgen Wussow

The Red Circle is another adaptation of an Edgar Wallace story made in West Germany. It is one of the best examples of the genre. Suspenseful, fast-paced, well-acted, and exciting, it maintains suspense and has several surprises, including a couple of twists at the end. True, not everything is cleared up and the resolutions may confuse you, but the whole thing is so damn entertaining it doesn't really matter. Renate Ewert makes a wonderful impression as the irrepressible Thalia who keeps you guessing as to exactly whose side she's on. Tragically, both she and Thomas Alder committed suicide while in their early thirties. 

Verdict: Top-notch West German thriller or Krimi. ***.

THE AVENGER (1960)

Heinz Drach

THE AVENGER (aka Der Racher/1960). Director: Karl Anton.

An unknown person who calls himself the "Executioner," has been running about decapitating criminals and the terminally ill and leaving their heads in boxes. Special agent Michael Brixan (Heinz Drach) follows a lead at a film set where he finds a clue in an old script. He is convinced that someone connected to the film company may be either the Executioner or an ally. Suspects and other characters include the director, Jackson (Friedrich Schoenfelder); his temperamental star, Stella Mendoza (Ingrid van Bergen); the elderly Henry Longvale (Ludwig Linkmann); the perverse Sir Gregory (Benno Sterzenbach); Bhag (Al Hoosmann), Gregory's brutish native manservant; the scriptwriter Voss (Klaus Kinski); and Ruth Sanders (Ina Duscha), the niece of the latest victim and an aspiring actress. Based on another novel by the prolific Edgar Wallace, The Avenger is not as horrific or gory as the plot may suggest, but there are some creepy final scenes taking place in old tunnels and caverns beneath an estate. Lots of red herrings in this but the wind-up is satisfying. Many more West German Wallace adaptations would follow.

Verdict: Another convoluted but entertaining Wallace story. **1/2.

DEAD EYES OF LONDON

DEAD EYES OF LONDON (aka Die toten Augen von London/1961). Director: Alfred Vohrer.

In London, there is a series of "accidental drownings" of vision-impaired men on foggy nights. These deaths are tied in with the Greenwich insurance company and may have something to do with a home for blind pensioners run by Reverend Dearborn (Dieter Borsche). Then there are the infamous, possibly mythical "blind killers of London" run by Jacob Farrell aka "Blind Jack" (Tor Johnson lookalike Ady Berber). Inspector Holt (Joachim Fuchsberger) and a braille teacher named Nora (Karin Beal) nearly pay a heavy price for getting involved in this mystery. Dead Eyes of London is a remake of an old Bela Lugosi film of the same title (aka The Human Monster), and it is an extremely suspenseful movie with some very good plot twists. Karl Lob has contributed some unusual camera work, such as a shot from inside a man's mouth as he sprays his throat! There's an exciting climax, and a well-handled murder inside an elevator shaft. The biggest "name" in the cast is Klaus Kinski [Doctor Zhivago] as Edgar Strauss. Based on a novel by the prolific Edgar Wallace.

Verdict: Well-done West German suspense thriller. ***

THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS

THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS (aka Chamber of Horrors/1940). Director: Norman Lee. 

June Lansdowne (Lilli Palmer) gets involved with a private dick (Romilly Lunge) after she encounters a puzzling mystery in a sanitarium: a man she's speaking to is murdered and then his body disappears. It all has to do with a shadowy estate, a vault, and a door with seven locks -- and seven keys, one of which June possesses. Leslie Banks of (the far superior) The Most Dangerous Game plays Dr. Manetta, who lives on the estate, has a gallery of ancient torture instruments, and says he is a descendant of the notorious leader of the Spanish Inquisition. There's also a monkey named Beppo roaming about. Although this mystery (which isn't hard to solve) from an Edgar Wallace novel shows promise at the opening, it's slow, boring and mostly uneventful. The torture devices, including a variation on an iron maiden, don't figure in the plot until very briefly at the end. You keep hoping this will get better but it never does. 

Verdict: Dull skulduggery. *1/2.