Enquête sur le vice - Dossier : Perversités sexuelles

Before becoming literally world famous for his series role of Oberinspektor Derrick of Munich police's homicide squad, Horst Tappert played the title role of Inspector Perrak of Hamburg vice squad. And this film has to be seen to be believed - it's like a prototype for the TV series that started four years later. The only real difference is that Perrak is intendedly funny at times and so becomes an extremely entertaining affair that delivers also many unintended gags.

Especially memorable is Tappert himself. He plays Perrak like a caricature of the forthcoming Derrick, and he does it great. The plot delivers the kinky moments that are typical for the early 1970s, with Perrak investigating the murder of a transvestite prostitute. His inquiry leads him to all kinds of red light establishments and adds to the entertainment. The case becomes personal for Perrak when his son Joschi gets kidnapped by thugs towards the end to guarantee an exciting climax.

A must see for friends of obscure German films of the Seventies. Besides Horst Tappert, the rest of the cast is also remarkable: Erika Pluhar and Judy Winters play the female leads, Werner Peters gives his penultimate performance in a theatrical movie, forthcoming "Derrick" and "Der Alte" regular Wolf Roth plays a young criminal in one of his earliest roles, and now well known comedian Jochen Busse appears as a contract killer! This movie has it all - but don't expect something else than trashy entertainment.