Le moine au fouet

There's a lot going on in The College Girl Murders. A mad scientist creates an almost undetectable poisonous gas. Before he can reap the rewards of his discovery, the scientist is killed by a hooded, whip-welding monk. After a co-ed is killed in a church by the gas, Scotland Yard is called in to investigate, but the killing continues. Who can stop this mad killer who seems to be able to come and go as he pleases in and out of the college?

What Works:

• The Killer. What's not to like about a killer who sneaks around wearing a vivid red KKK looking outfit, complete with red gloves. The white whip he carries and uses very effectively stands out nicely against the bright red gown. Although the idea of a killer in a flaming red, pointy-head outfit sneaking around a girl's school is fairly far-fetched, it's one of the more sinister looking costumes I've seen.

• Groovy 60s Music. I really would like to track down the title music to The College Girl Murders. It's got a jazzy, hip, 60s feel to it that I just loved.

• Bizarre Touches. Beyond the killer's red gown and hood, the movie features a sliding fireplace, a pit of alligators with a cage handing overhead, poison spraying bibles, a strategically placed mannequin, mini-skirts, go-go boots, and mile high hair. I would describe it as a cross between the 60s Batman TV show and an Italian giallo. The College Girl Murders is a real treat for the eye.

• The End. Let's just say that there are more twists than a mountain road. Just when you think the killer has been uncovered, here comes a twist..and another.and anotherand another.

What Doesn't Work:

• Chief Inspector Sir John. I know the guy was meant to be comic relief, but his buffoonish character has way too much screen time.

• Why Have Alligators? Previously, I mentioned the alligators in the pit. And while they are a nice touch, they serve very little purpose. Why go through all the trouble and not use them?

• Plodding Plot. Some of The College Girl Murders has no flow or rhythm to it. There are far too many moments throughout the movie when things come inexplicably to a screeching halt. Better pacing would have made this a much more enjoyable movie.

I haven't seen many of these German krimis but of the few I have seen (Phantom of Soho, Strangler of Blackmoor Castle, Dead Eyes of London) this may be my favorite. This one has a real funky feel to it that I really go into. Had the plot flowed a little better, I could have easily given The College Girl Murders a 7/10.

Another garish "color krimi" from director Alfred Vohrer who splits the action between a girl's school and a men's prison this time. Bumbling Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir John and his flirtatious secretary are back from CREATURE WITH THE BLUE HAND (along with the annoying MANNIX- style soundtrack during the "action" sequences) but the Inspector's been replaced by a smarmy, gum-chewing dick up to his ass in dead bodies.

It's impossible to figure out whodunnit in these Edgar Wallace "inheritence thrillers" since surprise revelations come fast and furious at the end when all the suspects are gathered together a la Agatha Christie. There's usually a Mabuse-like mastermind behind it all and all you have to do is pick out the one least likely to be the madman and there you are. Here, the killer's known as "The Red Monk" and runs around in a red Ku Klux Klan sheet with a pointy hood offing his victims with a bull whip. That's not the only murder weapon, of course, and I quite liked a bible that, when opened, shoots poison gas in a girl's face. Sir John makes mention of a previous adventure, "the case of the sinister monk", which I haven't seen. I must say, however, that this one did have at least a modicum of stye but Germany must have lagged behind the "mod revolution" already in full sway by 1967; there's go go boots and bubble hairdo's, yes, but the mini-skirts are almost knee-length and the girls wear two-piece swimsuits instead of bikinis. Everyone else is strictly squaresville.

Students at a woman's college in England are turning up dead by poisonous gas or acid, which draws the attention of two Scotland Yard detectives. Witnesses tell of a mysterious person with a red monk robe and conical-shaped hood lurking around. What's going on?

A West German production, "The College Girl Murders" (1967) is a colorful Krimi, a crime mystery/thriller based on Edgar Wallace's novel "The Black Abbot." The original name is "The Monk with the Whip" (translated). It's similar to a Giallo, but with stabs of humor revolving around the bald inspector who plays opposite the smooth, handsome one (Joachim Fuchsberger).

I thought this was going to be a precursor to the slashers of the 70s-80s, but it's more multi-dimensional with the likes of mad scientists, a James Bond-ish mastermind & weapons, a quirky 60's score, poisonous Bibles, a red "clansman" brandishing a whip, and so on. To be expected in light of the milieu, there are several fetching females on hand, such as blonde Grit Boettcher as Betty.

While I suppose it's overall meh, it's oddball and entertaining enough for those interested.

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Spandau Studios and on location in West Berlin.

GRADE: B-

This is probably the fastest-paced and most action-packed of the German Edgar Wallace "krimi" series, a cross between the Dr. Mabuse films of yore and 60's pop thrillers like Batman and the Man from UNCLE. It reintroduces the outrageous villain from an earlier film who dons a stylish monk's habit and breaks the necks of victims with the curl of a deadly whip. Set at a posh girls' school filled with lecherous middle-aged professors, and with the cops fondling their hot-to-trot secretaries at every opportunity, it certainly is a throwback to those wonderfully politically-incorrect times. There's a definite link to a later Wallace-based film, the excellent giallo "Whatever Happened to Solange?", which also concerns female students being corrupted by (and corrupting?) their elders. Quite appropriate to the monk theme, the master-mind villain uses booby-trapped bibles here to deal some of the death blows, and also maintains a reptile-replete dungeon to amuse his captive audiences.

Alfred Vohrer was always the most playful and visually flamboyant of the series directors, and here the lurid colour cinematography is the real star of the show. The Monk appears in a raving scarlet cowl and robe, tastefully setting off the lustrous white whip, while appearing against purplish-night backgrounds. There's also a voyeur-friendly turquoise swimming pool which looks great both as a glowing milieu for the nubile students and as a shadowy backdrop for one of the murder scenes. The trademark "kicker" of hiding the "Ende" card somewhere in the set of the last scene is also quite memorable here. And there's a fine brassy and twangy score for retro-music fans.

Fans of the series will definitely miss the flippant Eddie Arent character in these later films. Instead, the chief inspector Sir John takes on the role of buffoon, convinced that he has mastered criminal psychology after taking a few night courses. Unfortunately, Klaus Kinski had also gone on to bigger and better things. The krimis had lost some of their offbeat subversive charm by this point, and now worked on a much more blatant pop-culture level, which will make this one quite accessible to uninitiated viewers.

Good acting, but Fuchsberger could have swallowed the gum. Contentwise and the titel is similar to The Sinister Monk, but it's more excitin and better written.