Der Todesrächer von Soho

Swiss director Jess Franco (credited "Jess Frank" here) is a real institution in the European b-movie scene for over fourty years now. Producing lots of cheap, stylish, weird and fastly-shot exploitation movies off all kinds of genres like sex films, thrillers, action, horror, science fiction, jailhouse dramas, war and adventure movies and detective fiction, he is some kind of European Hershell Gordon Lewis or Ed Wood, although still unknown in the mainstream media.

"Der Todesraecher von Soho" (The deadly avenger of Soho) from 1972 is such a fastly shot production. This German-Spanish co-production is a rip-off of the popular German Edgar Wallace movies, a series of 32 London-based detective fiction movies produced from 1959 to 1972 with elements of serial thrillers, 19th century gothic novels and horror/crime fiction elements, mostly about weird killers.

Based on a novel of Bryan Edgar Wallace, the son of the British detective fiction author who never had such a big reputation in England than in Germany, this movie is something about a killer in London slashing several innocent women. There's also some kidnapping of half-nude women involved as well as mad scientists, giallo rippers, handsome Scotland Yard detectives, gothic castles, leather dominas, etc., but the script isn't really based on a logical plot.

The pacing is sometimes really boring, but really funny because of the typical Jess Franco style of film making - restless steadycams, fast zooms, weird camera ankles, surreal atmospheres, many empty places like in an old "Avengers" (sic!) TV episode and a timeless mixture of 19th and 20th century literary and movie styles. In the end, the showdown becomes really weird just like a psychedelic acid trip without any colours as there is only black and white and grey everywhere. No way!

The groovy easy listening and crime jazz soundtrack was composed by German jazz musician Rolf Kuehn, who provided the scores for many more Franco productions, and the cast features German b-movie star Fred Williams, stunning Barbara Ruettig, Wolfgang Kieling, Siegfried Schuerenberg (who played Scotland Yard chief "Sir John" in many Edgar Wallace movies), and famous "Derrick" actor Horst Tappert, playing a maniac villain here. Sit back and enjoy this weird and entertaining German seventies' trip that must have been big fun to shoot...

This crime thriller was made towards the end of the German "Edgar Wallace" movie series, which lasted from 1958 until 1972. Cult sleaze director Jess Franco got "Edgar Wallace"-regulars Siegfried Schürenberg and Horst Tappert for this one, but obviously the quite well known actors swallowed up the whole budget: The film itself is very cheap.

Although the movie takes place in London, most of the film was made in Spain. Therefore, all cars are driven on the right side of the street and the streets look typically spanish... yeah, heck, who will spot the difference to London?

Aside from the low production values, the whole story is an incoherent mess. The motivations of most of the characters (especially Horst Tappert's) remain unclear, and there are enough scenes that appear useless to the plot. The whole thing is so trashy it has to be seen to be believed.

In the end, exactly all the flaws make this cinematic catastrophe very entertaining and funny. A good party tape, but certainly not typical Jess Franco stuff. By the way: Horst Tappert went on to play the character "Inspector Derrick" for the German TV-crime-series "Derrick" (1974-1998) and became the best known cable policeman in the history of German television.

I tracked down "The Corpse Packs his Bags" (and it's quite difficult to find, believe me) because of its cool title and fascinating plot synopsis. It sounds like a sort of crossover between an Italian Giallo and a German Krimi, with the great Horst Tappert (my mother was a giant "Derrick" fan and saw all seasons, hence my enthusiasm) and directed by the one and only inimitable Jess Franco. I honestly thought the "Krimi" would be a good genre for Franco, but alas, he managed to ruin another potentially great concept. How awesome does the plot sound? A vicious knife-murderer indicates that he/she is about kill again by packing a suitcase for the victim and putting it in the middle of a room. The first 15-20 minutes are also very good, because they deliver the promised plot. After that, however, there are so many sub-plots and newly introduced characters that I completely lost track and interest. I don't even know if Tappert's character was good or evil. The story supposedly takes place in London, but Franco hardly even tries to camouflage that he's filming in his home country Spain, the sleazy footage is dull, and the climax is very unsatisfying. I'm certainly not an authority in the field of "Krimi" films, but I know two things. 1: writer Bryan Edgar Wallace isn't nearly as good as his father Edgar Wallace. 2: The best Krimi films were release between 1960-1965, and directed by Germans. Not in the early 70s, and certainly not by Jess Franco.

It begins as a dull whodunit, with bad acting from most of the supporting cast. However, one murder scene towards the middle (the one which starts with a chase in a park and culminates in someone's backyard) is nevertheless filmed with some virtuosity. Some of the humor which I could catch, esp. the bickering between the inspector and his assistant, was quite funny: for instance, I laughed a lot at at the scene where the inspector rushes up the stairs but his assistant takes the elevator. As the movie progresses things get more interesting with bizarre set-ups and bizarre villains appearing and adding much delight. Eventually, we even have the delicious stereotypical mad scientist lab with flashing light bulbs and bubbling tubes... Rather than giallo imagery of the times (early 1970s), this has vintage pulp imagery. And it was also nice to watch a cute and pretty Eva Montes in another Franco movie.

Odd mix of a movie.

The script is excellent with a good characters, a mystery, and some comic relief. However, it's also dated and has a very old nostalgic vibe courtesy of Edgar Wallace. However, the imagery and cinematography is very 1970s. This is an odd combination. The wardrobes and characters are quite good. Each character seems memorable in their own way.

The acting is hit or miss. Some of the comic relief moments will not be for everyone. It's silly rather than actually funny. The mystery is not particularly strong. While this film is a fun oddity, it's also mostly mediocre.