The genre that "strangler of Blackmoor castle" belongs to is called a krimi, just like many others of its type, this movie is a gothic murder mystery cross horror with some light comedy relief, that hails from Germany. Most of these movies were based from the writings of Edgar Wallace, as is this one. If you are a fan of the Italian giallo movies (e.g. Dario Argento's Deep red or Mario bava's blood & black lace) then you can definitely see that the krimis were a massive influence on that slightly later genre. Let me also say that this film is more than just a horror despite the title, think of something like a early hammer film crossed with a Hitchcock & you'll have the idea. The setting is a gothic mansion, lots of creepy atmosphere but the monster here is of the human variety. A hooded killer invades the estate & assaults the owner demanding the return of stolen diamonds. To prove he means business, he leaves them the corpse of their grounds keeper, strangled then left with the letter M carved into his forehead. Scotland yard are called in & thus begins a cat & mouse game with buried secrets coming to light as the bodies pile up. The plot twists & turns its way to a final confrontation where all is revealed. But its not all doom & gloom as here & there we are treated to some light comedy relief (witty but not stupid)from the mixed bag of characters, similar to the sort that was even in the old universals. The plot is clever but not overly complex, so you don't have to be a die hard Agatha Christie fan or some such to enjoy it. All in all, everything is a nice balance. If you do like this type of film, why not also try others of the genre such as "the phantom of Soho" or "monster of London city" (which even stars the great Christopher Lee). I would personally give this five stars all round, it was ninety mins well spent. I would recommend it as a great introduction to the krimi genre.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Deep Sleep
(2013)
Another art film inspired by the Giallo genre but a good one at that
17 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Don't get me wrong here, this is a visually stunning tribute to one of my favorite genre's in cinema history but this is not the return of the giallo. This is another art film that is a tribute to the genre rather than a "new" giallo, much the same as "Amer" (2009). The entire film is shot POV and doesn't for one second give us a conventional shot, the camera is in constant motion, giving a hand-held look that at times shows nothing more than the floor. Sure, it's it fills every second with delirious giallo imagery but I would like anybody out there to name me one real giallo from back in the day that is nothing but this. They weren't, they were wonderful murder mysteries, full of twists and turns, in a style all of there own. As a tribute, it is wonderful but a bona fide giallo it is not. The theme is spot on, the 70's setting and old school effects add to it's authenticity. But what we have here is something akin to a rock album where each track is comprised solely of lead guitar solos - no bad thing but not a complete song structure. I hope that explains what I'm trying to say here. Dialogue is very minimal but then again so is the entire plot. We are entertained through out by a soundtrack that is everything you want it to be without purely ripping off Mr Simonetti, works perfectly with the visuals on screen. Plot wise, we have a black gloved killer (shown only as a pair of black gloved hands with the exception of one or two scenes) who suffers from a childhood trauma. The killer is seen to stalk and murder a very sexy young women only to return home to find that somebody has witnessed this act. The killer receives a set of photos of the deed with a phone number. When calling the number, it is answered by somebody who questions why the murder was done and then threatens to kill the killer. This should have set the scene for a fantastic game of cat and mouse between the two but after one brief confrontation we are then thrown into tons of surreal imagery that leads to a cop out ending. Not an unintelligent ending, mind you, but certainly not original. If you are a big fan of the giallo genre then certainly see this film, you may well enjoy it's over the top excess. However, I will caution you to keep a bottle of aspirin handy and if you do suffer from light sensitivity of any form then be warned.
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