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Wartezimmer zum Jenseits
Mark of the Tortoise
Waiting Room to the Beyond
West Germany 1964
produced by Horst Wendlandt for Rialto
directed by Alfred Vohrer
starring Hildegard Knef, Götz George, Richard Münch, Heinz Reincke, Carl Lange, Pinkas Braun, Adelheid Seeck, Hans Paetsch, Jan Hendriks, Joachim Rake, Klaus Kinski, Hans Clarin, Wilhelm Borchert (narrator)
screenplay by Eberhard Keindorff, Johanna Sibelius, based on the novel Pay Or Die by James Hadley Chase, music by Martin Böttcher
review by Mike Haberfelner
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When Sir Cyrus (Hans Paetsch) receives a letter that holds the hour of
his demise shouldn't he pay a certain sum to "The Tortoise", he
thinks very little of it - but of course is killed at the exact hour
depicted in the letter (by knife thrower Klaus Kinski). Scotland Yard
inspector Dickes (Heinz Reincke) investigates, but comes up with very
little. Also, Sir Cyrus' nephew Don (Götz George) and his best friend
Harry (Hans Clarin) do a little bit of snooping around, and come to close
to the truth, upon which it's suggested by the police they ought to leave
the country. So they re-settle in Italy, where the wheelchair-bound
Marchese di Alsconi (Richard Münch) resides in his castle, who they just
know is the Tortoise. Don soon enough finds himself in favour with the
Marchese's right hand woman Laura (Hildegard Knef), who helps him out of
several fits once Don has managed to enter the castle, but ultimately that
only has her captured in a death trap (a room with a lowering ceiling)
with him while the Marchese already plots his escape. But of course,
there's still Harry, who manages to enter the castle on his own and free
them. And then the trio sees that the Marchese gets his just desserts ... Sandwiched
between Alfred Vohrer and Rialto's
Edgar
Wallace adaptations, this adaptation of a James Hadley Chase
novel is on first (and even second) look more of the same - a similar cast
and crew, the London settings of at least part of the film see to that -,
even if the gimmickry of the Marchese's castle is more in line with the
then still blossoming Eurospy genre. So if you're looking for rampant
originality, this is not the film. But that all said, this is still a very
well-made german krimi, it's beautifully filmed, very well-paced, and the
suspense is high throughout. Sure, it's still anything but a masterpiece,
but good genre entertainment.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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