Der Zinker (1963)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Alfred Vohrer

Writers:

Edgar Wallace (novel)
Harald G. Petersson (writer)

Release Date:

26 April 1963 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Scotland Yard investigates a series of murders where the victims have died by snake venom poisoning. |

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Scotland Yard | Murder | Tiger | Police Detective

Cast

Heinz Drache	...	Inspector Bill Elford
Barbara Rütting	...	Beryl
Günter Pfitzmann	...	Frankie Sutton
Jan Hendriks	...	Mr. Leslie
Inge Langen	...	Millie Trent
Agnes Windeck	...	Mrs. Mulford
Wolfgang Wahl	...	Sergeant Lomm
Siegfried Wischnewski	...	Der Lord
Siegfried Schürenberg	...	Sir Geoffrey Fielding
Albert Bessler	...	Butler
Heinz Spitzner	...	Dr. Green
Erik von Loewis	...	Juwelier
Stanislav Ledinek	...	Der Champ
Winfried Groth	...	Jimmy
Eddi Arent	...	Josua 'Jos' Harras

Also Known As:

The Squeaker

Runtime:

Germany:89 min | USA:93 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (opening credits) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm-Magnetocord-Eurocord)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Les Film Jacques Willemetz

Trivia:

The first film of the Edgar Wallace Series to be shot in an aspect ratio of 2,35:1. In order to be able to include some insert shots of London, new material had to be shot on location in UltraScope. In all the previous films of the series, archive footage from "Der Frosch mit der Maske" and "Das Geheimnis der gelben Narzissen".

Movie Connections:

Edited into Der Hexer (1964)

Decent if somewhat overrated Edgar Wallace "krimi"

Although this early West German Edgar Wallace "krimi" is called "The Squeaker" for some reason, it's actually about another colorful shadowy Wallace supervillian called "the Snake", who uses venom milked from deadly cobras in the city zoo to paralyze and kill his enemies and and anyone else who gets in his way. Klaus Kinski plays his henchman, a creepy zoo worker and the obvious but more minor villain. The Snake himself, however, could be any number of people from the colorful cast including a classical musician and society matron who drinks straight whisky for tea time, her lovely young niece, the niece's fiancée, the owner of the zoo, or perhaps even one of several police officers investigating the bizarre murders.

This movie has a few effectively creepy scenes, some good comic relief, and an effective ending. Still it doesn't compare in my mind to the classics of the krimi genre like "Dead Eyes of London", nor even to slightly less well-regarded entries like "The Mad Executioners", "The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle" and "The College Girl Murders". It was directed by Alfred Vohrer who also directed "Dead Eyes" and two of the three films just mentioned, but I wouldn't rank it among his best work. It does feature an early appearance by the late enfante terrible German actor Klaus Kinski (who would no doubt dismiss it as another "piece of sh*t", but, of course, he said that about ALL his films). Strangely, it doesn't feature Joachim Fuchsberger, who was in even in more of these films than Kinski. It does have the go-to "comic relief" actor Eddie Arentt, but frankly Inge Langen is a lot more funny as the elderly, whisky-swigging society matron.

This movie is somewhat overrated in my opinion, but definitely worth seeing if you like the krimi genre.