Le Fantôme de Soho

The Phantom of Soho is another Krimi film based on a novel by the son of the great Edgar Wallace, Bryan Edgar Wallace. I can't say it's one of the best of the genre, but it features a decent plot that flows fairly well and kept my interest for most of the duration. As the title suggests; the film once again takes place in London and this allows director Franz Josef Gottlieb to build a dark and foreboding atmosphere to compliment his plot which chiefly involves murder. The plot focuses on a murder named 'The Phantom' who is going round London bumping various people off. The victims are all important men and seem to have something to do with Sansibar; a seedy nightclub owned by a crippled woman. Naturally it's not long before Scotland Yard is called in to investigate and they receive help from a mystery writer who is fascinated by the crimes. As they dig deeper into the murders, they find out that many of the victims have more in common than was first thought.

Naturally the film is not particularly graphic; but the murder scenes are rather memorable thanks to the way they are shown - usually we see the victim looking surprised while a pair of gloved hands (one holding a knife) is shown on either side of the screen. This is amusing the first time it's seen and while it does at least make the film somewhat memorable; I have to say that it does lack variety. The plot is more than a little bit sketchy and the film only really features memorable scenes, rather than a memorable narrative. The nightclub setting is good as it allows the director to show plenty of half naked women along with a sordid atmosphere. The film gets less interesting as it goes along and by the end I didn't really care too much about the mystery behind the murders, and that's a bit of a shame as there's a decent enough plot here to spawn a good thriller. The ending is something of a surprise, however, so anyone that makes it that far at least shouldn't be too disappointed. Overall, this is a Krimi worth seeing for genre fans; but it won't hold much interest for anyone else.

THE PHANTOM OF SOHO is a German "krimi" or crime drama about the titular district in London, England, and its being terrorized by said phantom.

Indeed, a murder spree is under way, having something to do with a strip club / brothel -yes, there are topless females- called Sansibar, run by the enigmatic Joanna (Elisabeth Flickenschildt). Certain men are being stalked and killed, and the killer is leaving a distinct "calling card" with the victims. Scotland Yard, represented by Chief Inspector Patton (Dieter Borsche), is suitably baffled.

A fairly gritty film, it's well written, acted, and directed. The characters are interesting and the mystery is intriguing. There's also a "shock" finale...

Someone is murdering well-known people outside a fashionable Soho bar. Chief Inspector Dieter Borsche and Sergeant Peter Vogel run the investigation. As each new victim turns up, the links point to a ship lost at sea.

I looked at this under the impression it was one of those German productions based on an Edgar Wallace story. It turned out that the source novel was Brian Edgar Wallace, the famous writer's son. There's an interesting technique here: we are introduced to several of the characters as they wander about doing nasty things, like Lord Hans Nielsen raping girls, and sea captain Hans Hamacher blackmailing people without discussing why. As a result, the audience has an opportunity to solve the mystery of who the Phantom is before the police.

The Phantom of Soho takes us to a setting of dark alleys and the dirty, crime infested streets of Soho England. We meet a varied assortment of characters including strippers and prostitutes. This is where we are taken in this movie which has a combination of horror, mystery, sexual backgrounds and situations. All of these together make this 1966 movie a bit different from the typical `who done it' movie. I didn't have high expectations for this movie but found myself to be pleasantly surprised having been caught up in it's suspense and mystery. In my opinion, there are a lot of better horror/mysteries out there, but this one is still worth watching and makes an enjoyable viewing. Give it a chance.

The killings in question take place around a seedy Soho den of ill repute known as the Sansibar, run by the wheelchair-bound crime boss Joanna Filiati (Elisabeth Flickenschildt). Somebody in sparkly golden Michael Jackson gloves is running around in the shadows stabbing people in the heart, something Joanna is trying to keep quiet, so as not to draw attention to her ring of prostitution, insurance scams, and other plain and sundry dirty dealings. Unfortunately for her, Scotland Yard is on the case, specifically Chief Inspector Hugh Patton (Dieter Borsche). Even more unfortunately for her, crime novelist Clarinda Smith (Barbara Rütting) is dogging him to let her tag along on the case, and the more he refuses, the more she seeks to prove herself an even better investigator than he is.

Despite this film featuring the comings and goings of the criminal element of London and their interactions with the Scotland Yard, this is a sort of a slasher thriller- the serial killer whodunit is front and center, forming the backbone of the entire plot. It's fast-paced, dark, seedy and sleazy with some surprising nudity by a dancer in the club. It's dripping with black and-white atmosphere, with cigarette embers lighting dark corners of the grimy street, and pale white disembodied faces peering around corners in harsh contrast with the dim London fog. Solid atmosphere, but it can be a bit too seedy for me. Surprising unraveling of the killer, with a tragic motive.