Der Fluch der grünen Augen

After six deaths in as many months an Interpol agent by the name of "Inspector Frank Dorin" (Adrian Hoven) is sent to a remote village somewhere in Eastern Europe to investigate. When he gets there he finds that all six deaths were to women between the ages of 18 to 22 and that when they occurred all of the electricity had also gone out for an hour or so. To make matters even worse, the attractive hotel maid by the name of "Maria" (Erika Remberg) is killed that very night in the room next to him and Inspector Dorin is immediately suspected of her murder. Coincidentally, six months earlier, a reclusive scientist named "Professor von Adelsberg" (Wolfgang Preiss) has moved into a nearby castle and--along with the help of his pretty assistant "Karin Schumann" (Karin Field)--is conducting experiments which he insists must be kept secret for the time being. Now, although I wasn't honestly expecting too much from this movie, I must admit that it had a decent amount of mystery to keep my interest for the most part. Likewise, although it is filmed in black-and-white, the director (Akos Rathonyi) took full advantage of it by using shadows and other techniques to create a dark atmosphere. On the flip side, however, the story itself had a couple of unexplained issues and the script was especially bland. I should note, however, that the film I saw was dubbed from German to English and this could possibly explain the rather basic dialogue. Be that as it may, although this was certainly not a great horror film by any means, it managed to pass the time fairly well and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Six women were probably murdered in a lonely village. Inspector Dorin (Adrian Hoven) arrives and finds that the local people suspect vampires. He laughs at that superstitious nonsense and starts his investigations just when the seventh murder happens - next door to his bedroom. He is invited to the castle of Professor Adelsberg (Wolfgang Preiss) who seems to hide something...

'The Curse of the Green Eyes' aka 'Cave of the Living Dead' or 'Night of the Vampires' is a black & white production from the 1960s. Beginning with the Karl May western movies, there was a growing number of co-productions between West Germany and Yugoslavia at the time. With a handful of known German actors on the list including the excellent Carl Möhner as the dubious doctor, plus great locations, a result is achieved which is superior to many other B movies, also in acting and camera work.

Inspector Frank Dorin (Adrian Hoven) is called in to investigate a series of bizarre murders, involving six women who have been killed in a small village. Upon arriving at the village, Dorin soon realizes that he isn't up against an ordinary killer. Luckily, a local witch offers her assistance. What, if anything does the odd Professor von Adelsberg (Wolfgang Preiss) have to do with any of this?

CAVE OF THE LIVING DEAD (aka: NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRES) is an enjoyable vampire yarn with some interesting variations on the traditional lore. For one thing, whenever the creatures attack, the power goes out. However, the method used to do away with them remains the same.

Co-stars Karin Field as the Professor's assistant, Karin Schumann...

In practically every vampire movie that I've seen, and they're quite numerous, the plot attempts to add a strange characteristic or gimmick to the myth of vampires. Usually these are very common things that are closely connected with the traditional characteristics (garlic, crucifixes, sunlight, …) but some movies truly exaggerate and come up with the downright craziest things. In this West German/Yugoslavian goth-horror production "Cave of the Living Dead", for example, the vampire attacks are accompanied by the loss of electric power! That's actually how the police knows there has been another murder. How do you explain that? I really don't see the connection between sucking the blood of a virgin and causing the lights to blackout.

Apart from this curious little anecdote, "Cave of the Living Dead" is actually a rather decent and entertaining early 60's Gothic horror movie that can easily compete with the better Italian and Spanish efforts from that era. The story and execution are very straightforward, but there are more than a handful of memorably suspenseful highlights, a good cast of characters and a beautiful homage to the greatest German silent horror movie ever made; Nosferatu. The film stars Adrian Hoven, who might be better known amongst horror fanatics as the director/producer of films "Castle of the Creeping Flesh" and the notorious "Mark of the Devil" movies. Hoven is terrific as the slick Interpol inspector (and bona fide cool guy) Frank Dorin, assigned to solve a series of strange and horrifying murders in a remote German village. During the past six months, seven beautiful young girls aged between eighteen and twenty-two years old have been found dead, and the only explanation the local doctor can come up with is heart failure. The petrified and superstitious villagers believe in vampires, and they're right of course. You don't need to be a very intelligent inspector to figure out the first murders coincided with the arrival of the mysterious Professor Von Adelsberg. The professor is allegedly occupied with his experiments all day long and his castle is build on a giant cave full of bats and coffins. Hmm, I wonder who's the vampire in this town… "Cave of the Living Dead" is quite fun to watch, especially to spot all the clichés and stereotypes, like village witch and the hysterical black guy. The atmosphere is often unsettling and most of the filming locations, like the titular cave and the well, are outstanding. The film is fairly explicit for its time and there's even some enticing nudity I totally didn't expect to see.

Good story and characters, snappy dialogue, suspense. A few goofs that added nothing to the story, but on the whole, a solid good time for anyone who likes a good old-fashioned vampire movie. Recommended!