Die blaue Hand (1967)

Director:

Alfred Vohrer

Writers:

Herbert Reinecker (writer)
Edgar Wallace (novel)

Release Date:

1970 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror

Plot:

Scotland Yard is after a homicidal maniac called The Blue Hand, which is what he uses to kill his victims. |

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Murder | Insane Asylum | Twin | Secret Door

Cast

Harald Leipnitz	...	Inspektor Craig
Klaus Kinski	...	Dave Emerson / Richard Emerson
Carl Lange	...	Dr. Albert Mangrove
Ilse Steppat	...	Lady Emerson
Hermann Lenschau	...	Rechtsanwalt Douglas
Diana Körner	...	Myrna Emerson
Gudrun Genest	...	Schwester Harris
Albert Bessler	...	Butler Anthony
Richard Haller	...	Edward Appleton / Die Blaue Hand
Ilse Pagé	...	Miss Mabel Finley
Fred Haltiner	...	Wärter Reynolds
Peter Parten	...	Robert Emerson
Thomas Danneberg	...	Charles Emerson
Heinz Spitzner	...	Richter
Siegfried Schürenberg	...	Sir John

Also Known As:

Creature with the Blue Hand (USA)
The Bloody Dead (USA) (video title (recut version))

Runtime:

Germany:87 min | USA:72 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm-Magnetocord)

Certification:

Germany:12 (re-rating) (1991) | USA:GP | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

East Orange, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Rialto Film Preben-Philipsen

Trivia:

On the movie poster of the Italian release Diana Körner and Harald Leipnitz were credited as 'Diana Cornell' and 'Harald Leipniz'.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Out of this World Super Shock Show (2007) (V)

This is not about a lonely smurf...

Thankfully I haven't seen the re edited hatchet job that was released as The Bloody Dead that was culled from this movie. The ads on the video release did tout it as before Freddy in the Nightmare On Elm Street series.But this is another from the German krimis based on the works of Edgar Wallace.

What we have here is the old good twin/evil twin plot that has been done to death.Two brothers (played by the ever intense Klaus Kinski)are the center of a plot. One was convicted of murder and locked in the squirrel farm over his protestations of innocence.Conveniently the asylum is in the neighborhood of the family estate.

Freed by an unknown benefactor the twin flees to the family basement. Then a series of brutal killing via a spiked glove begin.Confusion abounds as the brothers bounce back and forth in cases of mistaken identity.As usual there is a fortune to be inherited as well, secret police agents and a mad doctor(is there any other kind?).

This by no means a great movie.It just happens to be rather unremarkable and somewhat predictable if you've seen enough movies in this genre.Hey, somebody has to sit through it so you don't have to.

See it only if you don't want to think strenuously.