Das indische Tuch

In another old-fashionable story devised by the cult British writer George Wallace where an elderly rich aristocratic man went to die hanged by an Indian scarf, due a contentious family such man required in his last testament that all them must keep together on the mansion for six days, thus the clever man expect they killing each other to take all properties and money, as he'd previously envisaged,aftermaths one by one appeared hanged by the deadly scarf.

The picture was led by the lawman Heinz Drache, the gorgeous lady Corny Collins, the iconic Klaus Kinski as illegitimate son, the wise butler Eddi Arent, the possessive mother Elisabeth Flickenschildt and his skilled piano player son Hans Clarin, fine mystery murder entertainment.

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First watch: 2025 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.

What legendary author wrote the best murder mysteries/whodunits; - Agatha Christie or Edgar Wallace? For me, personally, the answer is undoubtedly Agatha Christie! And not just by a small mile, but with lightyears ahead. Nonetheless, I'm also a big fan of Wallace, and I'm eternally grateful to him, because his work kickstarted the German Krimi-films, and eventually the Italian giallo-boom.

"The Indian Scarf" is very reminiscent to Christie's most famous story, namely "And Then There Were None" aka "Ten Little Indians". It's the same old and traditional plot of greedy family members gathering in a gothic castle for the reading of a will, but then naturally get killed off one by one by someone whirling around scarves. It's a prototypic, but amusing and reasonably fast-paced Krimi, with familiar faces in the cast (Klaus Kinski, Eddi Arent, ...) and clichéd twists in the script. Whenever one of the characters is suspected by the others of being the killer, the suspect is killed him/herself. You know; - that sort of twists. I don't think I've ever seen a castle/mansion with SO many secret passageways and hidden doors, though...

Oh, and Eddi Arent - as the dry sarcastic butler - has a fully automated breakfast trolley, which results in a handful of subtle but hilarious comic-relief sequences.

When a wealthy man dies, his avaricious relatives look forward to inheriting all his money. However, he leaves a provision in his will that they all must spend a week together in his castle before they will be able to inherit anything. At the castle (which is cut off from the outside world), the relatives soon begin to be killed off one by one, each strangled with an Indian scarf.

Nicely shot Agatha Christie-esque stylistic German thriller that is a spin on the "ten people get bumped off a la And then there were none" storyline, however there's a freshness to the story mainly due to the self-aware humour, a wide cast of characters who are quite barmy and creepy, especially Kinski's character who is seen as a suspect, POV scarf strangling, a painting with peephole nipples, and the dense-like Gothic atmosphere. It's quite Fun, but then I am a sucker for the "ten people in an isolated castle getting bumped off by an unseen killer" story, and the identity of the killer came as a surprise. The Butler is quite hilarious with his one liners.

It was a super entertaining watch, I enjoyed especially the humor indicating home gadgets a lot, that served the story. The oversized beethoven statue that holds some murder weapons, the tea wagon following Eddie Arent without a leash, the mysterious secret doors leading to cupboards, the weird clay statue of a stupid handyman, the oversized horse... set design in these Edgar Wallace adaptions in Germany is a real GEM and often overlooked. For me, the humor and the set design are a major plus point for the film experience, together with an EXTREMELY exciting cast, such as Eddie Arent, Heinz Drache and Elisabeth Flickenschild. Really fun, fast paced and easy going entertainment!

A rich man is bumped off and it is made to look like a heart attack. His possible heirs must spend 7 days in "peaceful coexistence" before his will is read.As usual the heirs are strangled one by one(with an Indian scarf).The finger of suspicion points to anybody and everyone. Is it the lawyer? Or wife; the son; the dope addict (Klaus Kinski intense as usual); the clergyman etc. Well this film drowns in red herrings and the ending is off the wall and irritating. I'm a big fan of this series and this disappoints. Only the acting and settings gives this a 4.