We come to the seedy Turkish thriller Kadin Dusmani via a circuitous but highly entertaining journey through a number of different types of film that built on a central theme — the simply murder mystery — and made it increasingly outlandish and bizarre. Picking a solid starting point is almost impossible — even if one could distill down to the “the first of its kind” in movies, there’s the fact that the early efforts were all based on various types of novels and pulp stories that underwent a similar evolution to the film that would eventually grow from them. So, for the sake of not falling into a bottomless pit, let’s pick a logical point at which to begin.

A mad scientist — we know he is mad because he is creating poison gas, because his assistant is aghast (and eventually he’s a-gassed as well…har har har) at the experiments, but mostly because he has mad scientist hair — creates a poison gas that perfectly mimics death by heart attack. A shadowy mastermind uses the gas, concealed in a bible, to murder a young college girl. The murder is orchestrated by a convict in a prison seemingly staffed entirely by undercover villains who let certain criminals come and go as they please, thus providing the perfect alibi. After all, how can a man in prison be committing murders on the outside outside?

Murder in the Museum got my immediate attention by featuring an awesome cover with a creepy looking masked killer strangling some dude in front of a scary looking old mummy. Looking back, and knowing what I know about these old films and the difference in what the artwork promises versus what the film delivers, I [...]

So it turns out that London is being swept by a series of brazen robberies perpetrated by a secret society known as the Fellowship of the Frog, a loose confederation of seedy characters, thieves, hustlers, and other ne’r-do-wells who follow the commands of a mysterious criminal mastermind known only as The Frog. The Frog himself is an outlandish villain, as was common in these krimi films, clad in a froglike goggled mask and toting around a backpack that powers his flamethrower, just like any other actual frog. Scotland Yard is stumped, as they always are, but with the assistance of a Bulldog Drummond-esque amateur detective, there is hope yet of unmasking The Frog and putting an end to his criminal empire.

As with pretty much all the Wallace krimi I’ve seen, this one is very enjoyable. Nothing spectacular, and there are a couple spots where one feels like one is running in place, but at least one is running. The cast is solid, and although the eventual reveal of the murderer is as anticlimactic as these things almost always are, it’s still a lot of fun getting there. Despite the title, and although the killer certainly favors strangulation as a way of dispatching with his victims, the movie hardly limits his repertoire. He also gets to shoot people and even decapitates a thug on a motorcycle by running wire across a road. Krimi are an essential step between the noir and serials of the forties and fifties and the Italian giallo of the late 60s and 70s, and with its cast of unsavory characters hanging out in old castles and seedy bars, Strangler of Blackmoor Castle strikes a pleasing balance between the two worlds.

Release Year: 1994 Country: Germany Starring the voices of: Ulrich Tukur, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Mario Andorf, Helge Schnieider, Wolfgang Hess, Gerhard Garbers, Ulrich Wildgruber, Mona Seefried, Manfred Steffen, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Michaela Amler, Christian Schneller, Tobias Lelle, Frank Roth, Alexandra Mink, Michael Habeck Writers: Martin Kluger, Akif Pirincci Director: Michael Schaack Music: Anne Dudley Producer: Hanno [...]

It looks beautiful, the actors and the characters that they play are incredibly appealing, the action is wonderfully staged and literally non-stop, and the atmosphere is so rich with romance and intrigue that it’s enough to send you into a ninety minute swoon. Still, it’s far from my favorite of Chor Yuen’s wuxia films, which should give you some idea of just how deep the damage goes with me when it comes to these movies. The world that Chor creates in them is, simply put, one that I never tire of visiting, and I’m happy that his prolific output has provided me with ample opportunities to do so.

Release Year: 1934 Country: United States Starring: David Manners, Phyllis Barry, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Jameson Thomas, Herbert Bunston, Charles Irwin, Elspeth Dudgeon, John Davidson, Claude King, Olaf Hytten, Evalyn Bostock, Fred Walton. Writer: Adele Buffington Director: Reginald Barker Cinematographer: Robert Planck Music: Abe Meyer Producer: Paul Malvern Availability: Buy it from Amazon Promote It: Digg [...]

The eventual reveal isn’t entirely a surprise, but then, it rarely is these days, given how many movies have been made in this style. And besides, the fun of the krimi is rarely in being fooled by the unmasking of the killer. It’s in the ride, and Phantom of Soho is an interesting ride indeed, steeped in eerie atmosphere cribbed from film noir and old horror films. The Soho of this movie is a fantastic, almost mythical creation, the result of someone who might never have been to Soho trying to make it up based on the things they’ve heard about it — not at all unlike American and Italian Westerns serving up a mythical version of the Old West based on legend and romance rather than hard facts.

1986, Japan. Starring Akira Kamiya, Michiko Kawai, Hideyuki Tanaka, Toshio Furukawa, Tessho Genda, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Norio Wakamoto, Michihiro Ikemizu, Kozo Shioya, Tarako, Tsutomu Kashiwakura. Directed by Satoshi Dezaki and Tsuneo Tominaga. Written by Moto Hagio, Toshiaki Imaizumi, Katsumi Koide. They Were 11 continues a recent trend for me, which is visiting old anime titles that, [...]

Release Year: 2003 Country: South Korea Starring: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang, Dae-han Ji, Dal-su Oh, Byeong-ok Kim, Seung-Shin Lee, Jin-seo Yun, Dae-yeon Lee, Kwang-rok Oh, Tae-kyung Oh, Yeon-suk Ahn, Il-han Oo. Writer: Jo-yun Hwang and Chun-hyeong Lim Director: Chan-wook Park Cinematographer: Jeong-hun Jeong Music: Yeong-wook Jo Producer: Seung-yong Lim Availability: Buy it from [...]

As an action film, Clans of Intrigue doesn’t disappoint, though it is heavier on discussion than some people might want. Chor Yuen’s work is the missing link between the classic wu xia films of the 1960s like Come Drink With Me and Temple of the Red Lotus, and the wildly over-the-top new wave swordsman films of the 1980s such as the Swordsman trilogy and Zu. Although the relative obscurity of Chor Yuen’s body of work has caused it to be overlooked when drawing the map of Hong Kong film trends, its availability on DVD will hopefully allow the director to take his rightful place as one of the most innovative and influential directors in action film history.