User Reviews

Listening to the terrific audio commentary by Kim Newman and Alan Jones for the Dario Argento Giallo The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970-also reviewed),I was surprised to hear them mention about how the roots of the Giallo had started in a sub-genre of German cinema called Krimi.Being interested in seeing the beginning of the Giallo,I decided to go for a movie which would hopefully be the cream of the Krimi.

View on the film:

Whilst the terrific puzzle-solving screenplay by Gustrav Kampendonk, (here credited as Percy Allan) does prominently feature a mysterious proto- Giallo killer with black gloves,Kampendonk shows in his adaptation of the Edgar Wallace novel Death Packs a Suitcase, a clinical focus on Finch's gathering of clues,that despite giving the film a bit of a dry feel.

Kampendonk smartly uses the dry mood as a way to make the viewer push Finch to walk further and further down the grim,seedy streets of London Soho,as Finch starts to discover,that the murder victims have deep connections with the hard nose thugs who run the streets of Soho.

Shooting the movie at an obviously crisp,chilly time, (the outdoor scenes have the actors cold breath covering the screen) director Werner Kilngler brilliantly uses the long distance killer and the chilly location's to create a strong,icy Film Noir world,where no matter how busy the area you find your self in is,there is always a shadow cast that someone is about to stab (or in this case throw!) you in the back.

Along with the Film Noir and Giallo elements,Kilngler also includes an unexpectedly fresh Pop-art ingredient into the Krimi mix,with the knife throwing by the murderer looking like it has come straight from a comic book,and the ending of the film taking place in an old mansion,that hides an industrial revaluation deep within.

First in a series of film adaptations of the works of Edgar Wallace's son, Bryan Edgar Wallace. Apparently, though, the stories were so extensively rewritten for filming that they really have very little to do with the original works. BEWs name remained attached to them for promotional purposes.

Secret of the Black Trunk is a much more grounded film than those of the concurrently running Edgar Wallace series which started in 1959. The mode of murder is simple and possible in real life: knife throwing. The hidden factor behind everything turns out to be regular, seedy drug dealing; no elaborate plots to murder someone who's heir to a fortune without knowing it. Even the lead, inspector Finch (Joachim Hansen) is a pretty sober character, doing regular police work like hunting down clues, rather than regularly engaging in fist fights, shoot outs and damsel-in-distress rescue missions, as the other Joachim, Fuchsberger, was wont to do.

As a result, the film is more believable and you can connect with the characters more, always a good thing. You may even find yourself sympathising with the bad guy in the end when he reveals the reasons that pushed him to take the course of action that he did.

The 60s attitude towards women is on show. During their very first date, Finch informs Susan (Senta Berger), almost in passing, that she's going to be his wife. Just like that. Of course, this doesn't sit well with her boss, Dr Bransby (Leonard Steckel), who, despite being three times her age, has decided he wants Susan for his wife. What to do, what to do? Why, simply kidnap her and lock her in a room until you can flee the country and force her to marry you abroad. Oh, those simpler, happier times.

The highlight of the film, for me, was Senta Berger. It's incredible to think she was only 20 years old when this was filmed; she looks so much more mature (your honour.) This same year, 1962, she was in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, one of my favourite Holmes films, with Christopher Lee as Holmes. In '74, she starred in L'uomo senza memoria (English title: Puzzle), a fantastic Italian semi-giallo. And two years ago, I watched the entirety of her German series, Unter Verdacht (Under Suspicion), which ran all the way from 2002 to 2019. Not just beautiful, but very talented and very much still active in 2023.

One of the better Edgar Wallace series from the 1960's concerns a series of murders where the victim is killed by a knife thrown from a great distance. The victim always has his bags packed by the killer just before the murder occurs. I was going to attempt to do a further recounting of the events but there are too many characters and too much going on for it to make any real effort to do so pointless. Looking back at it I find that the plot really doesn't hold up that well if you think about it, but it really doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot since the film is too busy moving you on to the next thing. Trust me this film is really worth making an effort to catch since it just grabs you and pulls you along. Best of all some of the dialog is quite witty with my favorite exchange being "I've been in London for less than an hour and I've already stumbled upon my first murder" to which a passer by replies "Yes, well London is like that". If there is any real problem with the film its that the comic relief, here taking the form of one of the detectives sound hound cousin, who's antics seem at times a bit too silly. Annoyance with the sound hound aside, this is a really good thriller and worth time on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and a soda.