THE MONSTER OF LONDON CITY

Hansjorg Felmy

THE MONSTER OF LONDON CITY (aka Das Ungeheuer von London-City/1964). Director: Edwin Zbonek.

Richard Sand (Hansjorg Felmy) is playing the notorious Jack the Ripper in a London theater. Coincidentally, an unknown person is now slaughtering prostitutes in much the way the original Ripper did. Richard is the boyfriend of Ann Morlay (Marianne Koch of Frozen Alive), whose Uncle George (Fritz Tillmann) objects to the relationship. Ann's spiritual brother, Michael (Dietmar Schonherr), is a doctor. The Monster of London City, based on a book by Bryan Edgar Wallace, is one of the least interesting of the Ripper-themed movies, with a low excitement level, not much suspense, and murder sequences that are hardly arresting. The ending also seems rather obvious early on. Another distraction is the presence of a private eye, Teddy, (Peer Schmidt), whose bumbling antics are supposed to be comedy relief but are just irritating. Dubbed West German film.

Verdict: Not much to recommend in this fairly dull picture. **.

THE WHIP AND THE BODY [AKA WHAT]

THE WHIP AND THE BODY [aka What/La frusta e il corpo1963]. Director: Mario Bava [attributed to "John M. Old"].

The Menliff family is disturbed by the reappearance of errant son Kurt (Christopher Lee), who went away after his dalliance with a maid led her to take her own life. Her mother (Harriet Medin), another domestic, keeps the bloody knife her daughter used to kill herself under glass as a morbid memento, and it is used when people in the Menliff castle start getting murdered. Is someone human behind the slayings, or is it a ghost from beyond the grave? The title is apparently explained by more than one sequence in which Kurt whips his sister-in-law Nevenka (Daliah Lavi), who was once affianced to him but then married his brother Christian (Tony Kendall), and who seems to enjoy the sadomasochistic foreplay. Like most of Mario Bava's movies this one has atmosphere, good photography and settings, and is drenched in the usual bizarre and colorful lighting schemes, but it's also a bore, with lots of walking around and brooding that amounts to very little; there's nothing remotely scary about it. However, the film has one of the best dubbing jobs of an Italian import, and the voices are well chosen, especially the actor who dared to dub Christopher Lee.

Verdict: Another bad Mario Bava movie. Watch his superior Blood and Black Lace instead. **. 

MARK OF THE DEVIL

MARK OF THE DEVIL (aka Hexen bis aufs Blut gequäl/

1970). Director: Michael Armstrong.

"The most attractive things in the movie were my close-ups." -- actor Udo Kier.

Promoted as "the most horrifying movie ever made" -- patrons were given a "stomach distress" (vomit) bag along with their ticket -- Mark of the Devil certainly has its disgusting moments, but the fact is that once you get past the unpleasantness it's not a bad movie. Lord Cumberland (Herbert Lom), a famous witch hunter, arrives at a village with his young assistant, Christian (Udo Kier), and upsets the local witch hunter Albino (Reggie Nalder), who brands women who rebuff his slimy advances as witches. The latest victim is the busty tavern wench Vanessa (Olivera Vuco), who has caught the eye of Christian and vice versa. Cumberland proves little better than Albino, as he threatens a baron (Michael Maien) with torture unless he turns over his inheritance to the "Church," has thumbscrews and the rack applied to a young woman who insists she was raped by a bishop (in the movie's most notorious scene, this poor gal's tongue is extracted), and rapes the beautiful wife (Ingeborg Schoner) of a puppeteer. (The puppeteer is played by Adrian Hoven, who took over the direction of the film from Armstrong according to Kier.) Another hard-to-take scene has the bare-assed baron sat forcibly down on a bed of needles. Sadly, the torture sequences are probably accurate, and the movie makes it clear that there were often political, financial or sexual motives behind the witch hunters' accusations. The villains in this are utterly loathsome, and the ironic ending has the elements, oddly enough, of operatic or Greek tragedy. While the story holds the attention,  the actors are all good, and the pace is fast, Mark of the Devil hasn't got much style. It's too bad the film makers were more determined to make a horror film than a drama with horrifying sequences. Armstrong only directed one more movie 16 years later. This was a West German production, not very well dubbed, but at least we hear Herbert Lom's actual voice.

Verdict: Intense, gruesome, and absorbing. ***.