Edgar Wallace: Der Hexer

The sister of a famous, uncaught criminal named The Hexer is murdered. Inspector Higgins believes that The Hexer will surface to take revenge on the killers, and sets a trap to finally capture him. However, soon bodies start piling up...

An odd mixture of twisty turny cat and mouse game and tongue in cheek humour, which feature In many Wallace Krimis. It can be hard to keep up, and there's times you're scratching your head, but it has light touch, has some good gadgets, a very clever villain, and some good underwater sequences. Everything leads to the climax in neat fashion, and before the unraveling of the villain there's a William Castle-style gimmick - asking the viewers who they think is the ringer.

The best Krimi films are based on a novel by English crime writer Edgar Wallace and directed by prolific German director Alfred Vohrer; and Der Hexer boasts the inclusion of both. Thanks to a thrilling narrative and some interesting lead characters - this film is clearly one of the best of the genre. Der Hexer roughly translates into English as 'The Magician' and the title alludes to the central character - a highly cunning criminal with the ability to baffle police through the use of trickery and disguises. The film begins with the murder of a young girl; whom we later discover is the sister of the aforementioned master criminal. When this comes to the attention of the police, naturally they expect 'The Magician' to return to London for revenge and so begin an investigation in order to catch the criminal. The Magician is indeed plotting to kill off those responsible for the death of his sister and comes to London with this agenda; facing the murderers themselves and the best detectives of Scotland Yard.

What really makes this film great is the plot line; which is as cunning and clever as the lead character. Alfred Vohrer deftly handles the story, which is streamlined and features no filler, and ensures that the film is exciting and interesting at all times. There are several twists and turns throughout the plot (the mostly unseen lead character providing most of the entertainment) and the film never dries up or becomes boring. As is usually the case, the story takes place in London and the director does well at establishing the atmosphere of the city, which bodes well with the plot line. The plot works in such a way that eventually everyone comes under suspicion of being the murderer and this helps a lot when it comes to generating the suspense. Naturally all these twists and turns need a good twisted ending to wrap everything up; and Der Hexer certainly does not disappoint in that respect. The ending is very well done and provides some surprises. Overall, this is an excellent entry in the Krimi genre and comes recommended.

The first series of replays of the German Edgar Wallace i did see as a child and i have loved it ever since (at least the top items, where this one and "Der Zinker" are top notch. Very much German style British made, this is always still suspense, thrill, charming ladies and light entertainment perfectly combined. And we all know things will end well as they must in 60s movies in Germany of this Wirtschaftswunder era. It is reliably replayed in Germany in series by the multiple stations, where the reels seem to be rotate around, don't miss it if you can get it (forgo the latter, especially the colored ones. What was won in color was more then lost in suspense and coolness).

Many of the German Krimi movies in the Edgar Wallace collection that I've seen thus far are enjoyable, for sure, but also excessively complex and featuring a climax that is both too grotesque and made less impactful by the many plot-twists that came before already. With that in mind, I can honestly state that "Der Hexer" is the best and most effective Krimi of the whole collection! The plot is simple, relatively straightforward, and steadily builds up to a fantastic climax. And the climax truly is fantastic, I assure you, with a dazzling revelation and an even more dazzling surprise ending.

Following the murder of his sister, a wanted criminal known as The Magician is expected by Scotland Yard to pop up in London and extract vengeance on the murderers. Inspector Higgens must even accept the help of the now retired but former Scotland Yard top-agent Warren, and meanwhile also uncover the reason by who and why The Magician's sister got murdered in the first place. The lame humor (as usual provided by Siegfried Schürenberg and Eddi Arent) is luckily kept to a minimum and replaced by good red herrings and feminine beauty. As the tense climax approaches, there's a joyous gimmick where the screen turns black and displays the question: "do YOU already know who The Magician is?". I loved it. Reminded me of William Castle, in fact.

Who is the Witch (a male individual is also called a Witch right?)? Well maybe you can tell ... but then again, the movie is quite mean and I'd say it isn't that easy to figure out ... but the end reveal is quite crazy too. And then you get another twist thrown in for good measure.

But let's go back to the beginning: With some known players from other Edgar Wallace adaptations. I remember loving these movies when I was a kid ... I did like crime movies ... I actually still do. So while this has somewhat aged ... it still is fine entertainment to say the least ... there are many more of movies like this ... but this was one of the movies that even nowadays fans will remember ... because of the twists and turns and because a comedian made a somewhat "remake" of it - Wixxer it is called and it is more like a spoof ... just in case you want to check that (and its sequel) out.