Im Banne des Unheimlichen (1968)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Alfred Vohrer

Writers:

Ladislas Fodor (writer) and
Edgar Wallace (novel)

Release Date:

26 April 1968 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A serial killer who calls himself "The Laughing Corpse" dresses up in a skeleton costume and kills his victims with a poison-filled scorpion-shaped ring. |

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Detective | Based On Novel

Cast

Joachim Fuchsberger	...	Inspektor Higgins
Siw Mattson	...	Peggy Ward
Wolfgang Kieling	...	Sir Cecil
Pinkas Braun	...	The Stranger
Claude Farell	...	Adela
Peter Mosbacher	...	Ramiro
Siegfried Rauch	...	Dr. Brand
Otto Stern	...	Mr. Merryl
Renate Grosser	...	Mrs. Potter
Hans Krull	...	Mr. Potter
Lillemor 'Lill' Lindfors	...	Sabrina (as Lil Lindfors)
Ilse Pagé	...	Miss Finley
Edith Schneider	...	Professor Bound
Wolfgang Spier	...	Bannister
Ewa Strömberg	...	Library Clerk

Also Known As:

Edgar Wallace - Im Banne des Unheimlichen (West Germany) (series title)
The Hand of Power (USA) (video title)
The Zombie Walks (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm Eurocord-Magnetocord)

Certification:

Germany:12 (re-rating) (2004)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Rialto Film Preben-Philipsen

Trivia:

Director Alfred Vohrer provided the voice of the "laughing skull" himself.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Pastewka: Die Strategie der Schnecke (#2.2)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Space of today

Back from the crypt

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!