otto4

I payed to see this in the theater when it came out. My friend that went with me still hasn't forgiven me. For years after that this movie was our metric for measuring bad movies, as in "Man, that movie stunk almost as bad as The Patriot".

The only part of this movie I remember is when the good guy is storming an abandoned, rusty, offshore oil rig where the bad guys are, and he knocks one of the bad guys into the water. The bad guy sinks, but his M16 rifle floats...

I followed up the viewing of this movie with Sky Pirates about a week later. After that stinker ("man that was almost worse than The Patriot") my roommate stopped listening to my suggestions for movies to see.

I'm a longtime fan of Hammer horror films and hadn't seen this one until recently. The sets were all excellent. The creative use of 'monsters', including the evil genii, the Goat of Mendez, the Angel of Death, and the giant spider, were well done and entertaining. Christopher Lee was as usual, fantastic. The scenes of the satanic rituals were sort of stupid looking. I think they may well be taken from popular references to Alestair Crowley, the Great Beast, and his "satanic" efforts in England in the 1930's (?) as the symbols used on the costumes look very very similar. But aside from that and aside from some supreme stupidity on the part of various characters in the movie, it's a fun view. The ending left a bit to be desired though.

I guess I'd classify this movie as one that starts out well and stumbles a bit past halfway through, becoming a movie which is ultimately so-so, but which has many good parts. ("Whole parts")

I've only seen this movie once but what differentiates it for me is not the story, the actors, or the director, but rather the footage of post WWII Frankfurt Germany and the devastation wrought by the war.

In addition to the general post-war, pre-Cold War footage, the most fascinating thing is the film shot inside the I.G. Farben builting. This building is famous among architects and has a unique interior, shown in the film. This building was also the "Abrams Building" during the time the U.S. military occupied it during the Cold War and anyone who was in Frankfurt in the 1970's or 1980's might recognise it as unchanged inside from the time the movie was made to the time one served in the Army. This film is rare because that was a secure building during much of the Cold War. Today I believe the Army has left the building and it is occupied by a school or college.

Lots of history in this movie. I wish it was available on DVD.