Co-writer & director Franz Josef Gottlieb & Janne Furch have adapted the Edgar Wallace thriller "The Yellow Snake" as the basis for their tediously paced but serio-comic outing "Der Fluch der gelben Schlange" with Joachim Fuchsberger, Warner Peters, and Pinkas Braun. This black & white, 97-minute Krimi casts Fuchsberger as its protagonist Clifford Lynn. He is the bodyguard of Joe Bray (Fritz Tillmann) and sets out to thwart his evil half-brother St. Clay (Pinkas Brau of "The Hunchback of Soho") from leading a revolt in China and Hong Kong. It seems that Bray had adopted Lynn as his other son. St. Clay aspires to forge together a revolutionary movement once he has the legendary Yellow Snake relic in his fist. Composer Raimund Rosenberger's quirky, electronic musical score will get under your skin, while "Old Shatterhand" lenser Siegfried Hold contributes some moody cinematography that creates a sinister air of suspense. Fuchsberger is his usual charming self as he tangles with Chinese assassins galore who kill their victims with elaborate Asian themed knives. St. Clay's henchmen steal and then lose the golden reptile encrusted with jewels. Basically, it boils down to a game of hot potato with the Yellow Snake exchanging hands at intervals. Meanwhile, Lynn romances both Joan Bray (Brigitte Grothum) and Mabel Bray (Doris Kirchner), but ultimately he sets his sights on Joan. At the same time, the audacious St. Clay plans to use the Yellow Snake relic to rally his army because a legend says whoever possesses it will triumph over all adversaries. In the middle of this fisticuffs laden fracas, one of Lynn's friends, Samuel Carter (Eddi Arendt of "Lady Dracula"), steals the shows as an eccentric collector of Chinese antiquities with his hilarious comic relief performance. Of course, this Teutonic thriller is dubbed in English and set primarily in Great Britain. Not the best of the Edgar Wallace adaptation, but essential for any Edgar aficionado. One surprise that sticks out is a knife that lands unexpectantly in the back of an unsuspecting victim.
Review of Der Fluch der gelben Schlange
