La vengeance du Scorpion d'or

Basically all of these German movies based on the Edgar Wallace novels are being pretty silly and even bad ones but thing about them it that they are being so (delibertatly) silly that it actually does work out as great entertainment.

The psychedelic '60's was nearing its end, so so was this movie series, featuring the Inspektor Higgins characters. And I'm also glad because of that, since there is no way really that this type of movie would had worked out in any other decade than the '60's. It's perfectly silly and laid back all, as if it simply doesn't seem to worry about the fact that it's being a pretty silly and bad movie.

Germans are not exactly know for their great humor but there are of course some exception here and there. And this movie does really feature some amusing comedy, that is being quite cheap and predictable but it works out thanks to its fine timing and the handling by its actors. The actors all play their roles as straight as possible, which is often something that can strengthen a movie its comedy actually.

As for the movie and story itself; it really is being a very typical crime/mystery movie, in which a murdered needs to be literally unmasked. There is really nothing specular or special about any of it and some moment really don't make that much sense but at least it has a pretty cool killer; a person in a skeleton costume that kills people with his poisonous ring. But really, it just isn't the story that makes this movie such an effective and fun one to watch; it simply is its '60's atmosphere and tone throughout the movie, combined with fine humor and plenty of deliberately silly moments.

Simply effective as some great entertainment.

7/10

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OK late 60's West German made, English-dubbed Edgar Wallace mystery thriller. Usual convoluted story, this time pepped-up with some creep running around in a skeleton outfit, poisoning victims with a needle ring. The heroine is a reporter who always seems to be one up on the cops. The Sinister Cinema DVD-R is not bad quality and the color is adequate.

From the versatile (albeit rather monotonous) mind of Edgar Wallace comes another reasonably effective Krimi that incomprehensibly isn't called "The Laughing Corpse". I think we can all agree this would make a much better title than the dull and irrelevant titles "The Zombie Walks" or "The Hand of Power". The best sequence is the opening, when during the funeral of the wealthy but eccentric Sir Oliver the pallbearers drop the casket because diabolical laughter suddenly comes from inside of it. When soon after the heirs of Sir Oliver are getting killed, the remaining family members are convinced he returned as a vengeful zombie.

The usual Krimi-ingredients are there, like far too many characters that are all suspects, and the only way to prove their innocence is by dying at the hand of the real killer. Scotland Yard hero Joachim Fuchsberger is present again, but to my knowledge this is the first and only Krimi without the annoying Eddi Arent as the comic relief. Instead, the charismatic Hubert Von Meyerinck provides the redundant comical interludes. Oh, there's also a guy with a green face, but everybody seems to think this is totally normal. It must be said the killer looks awesome! He wears a creepy skull mask, in combination with long hair, a black cloak and hat, and uses scorpion's venom to murder his victim. Where can I pick up his outfit to celebrate Halloween?

At the burial of Sir Oliver, witnesses hear a terrible laughter, and quickly the rumour spreads that Sir Oliver returned from the dead - as a walking skeleton. His brother Cecil (Wolfgang Kieling) soon suffers from persecution mania, because everybody he knows seems to be the target of an (attempted or successful) assassination. Inspector Higgins (Joachim Fuchsberger) has no clue why, but reporter Peggy Ward (Siw Mattson) pushes the investigation a bit with her reckless curiosity.

The cast also includes Hubert von Meyerinck as Sir Arthur, clearly trying to make a difference from his predecessor Schürenberg with little human touches such as his musical interests, Pinkas Braun in a typical twisted role as a man who could be a bad guy as well as a good guy, and Lil Lindfors who gets to sing a great song whose lines ("I wanna feel my heart beat") seem quite ironic if you consider it's all about a "zombie". The undead may look a bit silly on still photos, but believe me, it's scary enough in the film. It inspired the title character of the comedy "Der Wixxer" (2004). Something that didn't work was the make-up for Ramiro: he looks green like a Martian, not olive like a Creole. Nonetheless, tremendous entertainment!

This is pretty poor. I started well and being in colour and made in 1968 had high-ish hopes. The thing here is that there were just too many people involved and the tale far too ridiculous and uninteresting. It needs more than a few colourful sets and humour. Actually the humorous element was okay but then the seriousness of the tangled tale then becomes undermined and more difficult to watch. The only reason this gets any points at all from me is the 'zombie'. An absolute object lesson to all low budget film makers. A black cloak, a wide brimmed hat and a skull face mask with beautifully working jaw and great lighting. It is increasingly such a joy when the killer 'zombie' arrives to relieve us from our boredom that we are immediately on the wrong side.