O Fantasma Contra Scotland Yard

I´ve seen this movie about three times and I´m convinced that it is better than the two others.

But a very good film about "Fantomas" is still missing.

Unfortunately there won´t be another one with great Louis De Funès and Jean Marais.

This is undoubtedly the least of the series (and is saved from a ** rating by a hair): Fantomas is back to his old tricks, deciding that the time has come to tax the higher echelon of society of a good chunk of their wealth (no doubt the common people would applaud his efforts) - but, by now, the formula had grown pretty tired and the comic relief, regrettably, had practically obscured the romantic couple's purposefulness!

Still, why the setting has been changed to Scotland (of all places) is unclear, especially since Scotland Yard only really comes into play at the very end! What we get, in fact, is a lot of old jokes about ostensibly haunted castles, disappearing corpses and frightened manservants - with Louis De Funes' Commissioner Juve in the thick of it! - which are better suited to a Bob Hope or Abbott & Costello vehicle rather than one concerning the exploits of an iconic criminal mastermind!!; there's even the traditional fox-hunt which Fantomas disrupts by throwing in his own dog (barely disguised in fox furs) as a decoy!

Finally, the master criminal exits by way of a shuttle fired through the castle tower: how he managed to get it inside unobserved (and keep it from being discovered by the owners and their numerous guests, including our intrepid heroes) is anybody's guess! Unfortunately, then, the series ends on a bit of a whimper but it's sheer fun nonetheless and, ultimately, that's what really matters...

This third and final Fantômas movie is probably the weakest one, and that's mostly due to the script that contains some dumb illogical scenes. I found this one lesser entertaining than the first two movies. It's still a delight to watch Louis de Funès though. As usual he's the one that makes it worth watching, but from all his movies the Fantômas ones are the least funny. That's only my opinion but after having watched all his movies, and that for several times, I always come to this conclusion. But it's Louis de Funès, the greatest French comedian, so everything is forgiven. He is, was, and always will be the greatest.

same adventures. same fascinating Fantomas. and few drops of social critic. this is all. at the first sigh. but the essence remains the flavor of the past because the location of the chain of adventures, errors, misunderstandings and strong fight of the poor Juve against his the most important enemy is a Scottish castle. and this is the detail who change many slices from the story. after the events who are reflections of James Bond series, Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard is a tempt to give new nuances to a story who could becomes not so interesting. the result is far to be bad but not always convincing. and, for the last situation, the humor remains the perfect choice. so. a castle. an inspector. and the diabolic Fantomas.

This is a really good episode of this franchise: it used to be a classic french comedy for family but i see now that my nephews find it lame. Honestly they lack taste because here the production is top notch to build the mythic Scottish land of ghosts! In addition, the story is really funny and mischievous especially with Fufu being afraid of ghosts that don't exist! At last, Fantomas is the type of villain as good as Darth Vader: evil, scary look, 100% serious and very pompous. So you are really into this strange land and you are gripped by its mystery and fun!!