With this horror crime thriller from the popular West German Edgar Wallace film series, some important changes have been established. For the first time, the iconic intro with the greeting by Edgar Wallace could be seen and heard. This was also the first Wallace crime film to be shot using the ULTRASCOPE process. In addition to proven forces such as Heinz DRACHE as an inspector, Eddi ARENT as an idiot journalist and Klaus KINSKI as a madman on duty, audience favorites such as Barbara RÜTTING, Günter PFITZMANN and Agnes WINDECK made their debut in the WALLACE CINEMATIC UNIVERSE.
For years, a cunning fence known as ZINKER / SQUEAKER has been making London unsafe by sending competitors and enemies to the afterlife with the poison of the Black Mamba. Luckily, the inspector gets access to Nancy Mulford's (Agnes WINDECK) pet shop, where things seem to be going wrong. Niece Beryl (Barbara RÜTTING) and managing director Frank (Günter PFITZMANN) are also pretty much in the dark until more and more murders occur...
This horror crime thriller thrives particularly on its succinct cast. Agnes WINDECK in particular makes a remarkable debut: You shouldn't mess with this old lady at all. The two GERMAN FILM AWARD winners Barbara RÜTTING (awarded in 1953 for DIE SPUR FÜHRT NACH BERLIN) and Klaus KINSKI (awarded in 1979 for NOSFERATU) enhance every production anyway. The fabulous Inge LANGEN plays a fine key role and Siegfried SCHÜRENBERG, as publisher Sir Geoffrey, is already warming up to the senior police service. Until this film, Günter PFITZMANN had hardly been seen in leading roles in films, as he was a busy theater actor at the time (MY FAIR LADY in the West Berlin version). From 1987 he became the main actor in the popular family series PRAXIS BÜLOWBOGEN on the then West German television station ARD.
Producer Horst Wendlandt and director Alfred VOHRER have once again gotten a lot out of the Wallace original THE SQUEAKER. At that time, 2,900,000 visitors (source: InsideKino) wanted to see the film in West German cinemas, slightly fewer than DAS GASTHAUS AN DER THEMSE the year before.
Definitely worth seeing!
