...which means top class. And The Phantom of Soho really is. It's easily the best of the films I've seen based on the stories of Bryan Edgar Wallace.
Pretty much everything about is great, from the theme song onwards. The cast features such quality actors as Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Werner Peters, Dieter Borsche and Barbara Rütting. To give them all a bad script to work with would be a sin and, luckily, the writers don't commit it.
As everyone knows by now, the Italian giallo derived from the German krimi. The Phantom of Soho is, in my opinion, at least, at a point in between the two genres. It came out in 1964, the same year as Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, which is often described as being the first giallo. TPoS can certainly be called a proto-giallo, at the least. It has so many of the giallo elements: setting in a sleazy locale , the gloved killer, the attention paid to the killings and the fear on the victim's faces.
The differences are that the murders here aren't as bloody, the gloves aren't black and the victims are men (thousands of people cry out, "No! If it's not young, semi-naked women being slaughtered, don't dare to even compare it to a giallo!") Anyway, for me, who's no movie buff, it's a proto-giallo and I'm sticking to that.
We have an investigative team made up of two detectives, though we spend most of the film with Borsche's Patton, who's the senior partner. It makes a change to follow a seasoned old pro around, rather than a younger, more aggressive protagonist ever ready to fight with fists or bullets. We only have one action sequence, a long chase-and-fight which, while I can't say it was in any way realistic-looking, is about as much as you could hope for, given the period, the budget, and the actors involved.
The denouement is excellent. One last chase... Flickenschildt's hour has come... but no! In steps the detective at the last second. And we finally found out who the killer is.
Now, call me stupid, but I didn't have the guilty party figured out, as I'm sure many of you did. To be fair, I was enjoying the whole thing so immensely, I'd stopped to work out who it could be a while back and was just concentrating on watching, so I don't feel too bad.
And then the explanation of the reasons behind the killings. It's one of those where your sympathies immediately jump up and position themselves four-square behind the murderer. The revelation of kinship to another character was another surprise and quite moving. Exitus.
For once, I didn't even mind the ridiculous romantic ending, which came out of absolutely nowhere. I was in such a good mood, I even smiled at it. Shocking, I know. By the way, what was she being arrested for? Maybe I'll watch it again one day and find out.
So, a round of applause for The Phantom of Soho, if you will. One of the very best of the Wallace (both father and son) films. And please stop calling me stupid now. You can just think it.
Pretty much everything about is great, from the theme song onwards. The cast features such quality actors as Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Werner Peters, Dieter Borsche and Barbara Rütting. To give them all a bad script to work with would be a sin and, luckily, the writers don't commit it.
As everyone knows by now, the Italian giallo derived from the German krimi. The Phantom of Soho is, in my opinion, at least, at a point in between the two genres. It came out in 1964, the same year as Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, which is often described as being the first giallo. TPoS can certainly be called a proto-giallo, at the least. It has so many of the giallo elements: setting in a sleazy locale , the gloved killer, the attention paid to the killings and the fear on the victim's faces.
The differences are that the murders here aren't as bloody, the gloves aren't black and the victims are men (thousands of people cry out, "No! If it's not young, semi-naked women being slaughtered, don't dare to even compare it to a giallo!") Anyway, for me, who's no movie buff, it's a proto-giallo and I'm sticking to that.
We have an investigative team made up of two detectives, though we spend most of the film with Borsche's Patton, who's the senior partner. It makes a change to follow a seasoned old pro around, rather than a younger, more aggressive protagonist ever ready to fight with fists or bullets. We only have one action sequence, a long chase-and-fight which, while I can't say it was in any way realistic-looking, is about as much as you could hope for, given the period, the budget, and the actors involved.
The denouement is excellent. One last chase... Flickenschildt's hour has come... but no! In steps the detective at the last second. And we finally found out who the killer is.
Now, call me stupid, but I didn't have the guilty party figured out, as I'm sure many of you did. To be fair, I was enjoying the whole thing so immensely, I'd stopped to work out who it could be a while back and was just concentrating on watching, so I don't feel too bad.
And then the explanation of the reasons behind the killings. It's one of those where your sympathies immediately jump up and position themselves four-square behind the murderer. The revelation of kinship to another character was another surprise and quite moving. Exitus.
For once, I didn't even mind the ridiculous romantic ending, which came out of absolutely nowhere. I was in such a good mood, I even smiled at it. Shocking, I know. By the way, what was she being arrested for? Maybe I'll watch it again one day and find out.
So, a round of applause for The Phantom of Soho, if you will. One of the very best of the Wallace (both father and son) films. And please stop calling me stupid now. You can just think it.