La main de l'épouvante

Yes, that is right, I was trying to stay up late to watch this on the old Sammy Terry Terror Theater on Indianapolis/Bloomington channel 4, and fell asleep after about 15 mins. Therefore my recollection of it was as a boring movie, when in reality I was just tired. So I found a tape of it for $2 at the local swap meet and thought I'd give it a try since I liked all sorts of European giallo-styled films. What a great treat! Plenty of nice scary moments interspersed with humor and action. Not boring at all. Good performances all around, Kinski is superb. Now I know where Wes Craven got the knife-hand idea for Freddy K. One of the best things about these European horror films is that they actually have lengthy moments of suspense and dialog that aren't obscured by stupid, loud, obnoxious rock and pop music influenced noise like modern US horror films. They actually have soundtracks that enhance the mood rather than try to shock you with loud sudden blasts.

(Blood splattered everywhere in the first scene, mopped up by the janitors?) Kinski escapes from an asylum and hides out at his family's nearby estate, and assumes the identity of his twin brother, just as a series of murders begin, committed by a man in a black cloak with an iron glove and razor fingers.

How is that, for contrived and convoluted? And quick: this was filmed in February and March 1967, and released already in West Germany in April 1967!

Almost the entire film is bound to the family estate, a setting which allows for plenty of surreal images and vivid colours and soft photography and cracks of lightning in the night, and a few well done stalking scenes, but also limits the film, and makes it feel like a photographed stage-play. A slow moving and somewhat dull stage-play, with an abrupt and dodgy ending.

Good acting and an exciting story with a good tempo. However, it shows the cliché, scary mental sanctuary.

Creature with the Blue Hand AKA: The Bloody Dead is a fun, breezy film. It's short and sweet and gets right down to business. If you've seen any of Vohrer's other films, you'll find that this is basically his greatest hits album. Creepy mansion with secret passages? Check. Creepy asylum run by a powerful, corrupt man? Check. Creepy truck driven by villain in creepy fog at night? Check. Creepy visually impaired character? Check. And the list goes on. It's fun and doesn't take itself seriously. I liked the soundtrack too!

On the other hand, it felt a bit too formulaic. Some of the scenes were so contrived as to be almost like a parody.

One of his betters though it still don't beat Schizoid or Venom. You get 2 Kinski's for the price of one. The classic one bad brother and one good. Kinski in an asylum? Perfect for the schizophrenic nymphomaniac actor. He's always a favorite goon to watch.