DIE GRUFT MIT DEM RÄTSELSCHLOSS - Peter Thomas - "The Curse Of The Hidden Vault!" (1964)

Welcome to Edgar Wallace Saturday down in The Dungeon! Tonight's feature was originally titled "Die Gruft Mit Dem Rätselschloß" or as translated by Google, "The Crypt With The Mysterious Castle," but the real English title is "The Curse Of The Hidden Vault!" The music is once again by the phenomenal, the amazing, the always killer, Peter Thomas!

We love them all, Cellars, Crypts, Vaults, Chambers, Basements, Caves, Pits, Caverns, Tombs, Catacombs; they're all like cousins to The Dungeon!

Eddi Arent is Ferry Westlake. Eddi was in SO many of these German Edgar Wallace films, but his role is usually that of the comic relief sidekick, but in this particular film, his role is a little more out front!

The lovely Judith Dornys has the lead female role as Kathleen Kent! Ferry Westlake is supposed to be watching out for her! Judith's last film was made in 1969, and was titled "The Viking Who Became A Bigamist!" Really, I don't make this stuff up!

The multi-talented Harald Leipnitz has the role of Mickey Flynn, a guy who seems to be working both sides of the street! You don't know whether to trust Jimmy or not! He's kind of like an evil good guy! Harald had an awesome career and was in a lot of cool flicks like "The Sinister Monk," "The Brides Of Fu Manchu," and "Creature With The Blue Hand!"

Oh Yeah, Klaus Kinski is in there, creeping around, and lurking in the shadows and the bushes!!!

And you can't have a solid German Krimi film without Werner Peters in it, that would almost be a sin! Just for example, Werner was in :The 1000 Eyes Of Dr. Mabuse," "The Return Of  Dr. Mabuse," "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse," Dr. Mabuse vs Scotland Yard,"  "The Carpet of Horror, "The Phantom Von Soho," etc, usw.

Good shot of Eddi Arent amost getting skewered like a shish-kabob!

Naturally, Siegfried Schürenberg is in there once again for the gazillionth time as the always entertaining Sir John!

I love this shot of  Eddi and Judith!

Creepy mobster guys wear their shades at night!

Judith is pursued through a dark and dank basement storage area!

The giant gears of justice grind down to a halt!

The hidden vault itself is well buried, and booby-trapped and almost as difficult to get into as Superman's Fortress of Solitude! Like a whole lot of other Edgar Wallace gems, "The Curse Of The Hidden Vault" can be viewed for a pittance at Creepster TV!

THE TRYGON FACTOR - "Edgar Wallace Strikes Again" (1966)

Well, the fun never stops down here in The Dungeon, and tonight's Saturday Night Special is no exception!

"The Trygon Factor" was made in 1966, and is yet another tale based on an Edgar Wallace novel. I think it's pretty funny that Edgar's name is plastered all over the posters, but he is not even credited in the actual movie! Instead, the opening credits say "Based on an original story by Derry Quinn." I think that's kind of weird!

First rule: Don't go creeping around places where nuns are spying on your every move, even if you're a police officer!

Or you just might end up getting baptized to death!

What can I say? He's even creepier when he's not wearing the mask!

Next tip off that something ain't right: That nun has got on some pretty fancy undergarments!

Stewart (Target For Killing) Granger and Sophie (Der Hexer) Hardy are a strange pairing at best, being as there is 31 years difference in their real ages, it makes it kind of difficult.

Stewart is Superintendent Cooper-Smith, and he's the one in charge of investigating this sordid affair!

Sophie is a receptionist at his hotel.

Sophie was also in a spy movie with Eddie Constantine called "Jeff Gordon, Secret Agent," or it's original title, "Des Frissons Partout!"

The nuns also frown on it when one of their flock decides to do something else!

I think this is the first movie I've seen where funny guy Eddi Arent wasn't in a comic role. It was good to see him play it straight for a change!

It was also good to see the always great Robert (A Study in Terror) Morely in this film!

So just what the Heck are these nuns up to anyway?

They're robbing banks, that's what they're doing!

Spunky Cathleen Nesbitt is the one running the whole nasty business behind her front of being a nice old kindly rich woman! At this point in her career, Cathleen had been acting for 47 years! She lived to be 93.

This is the job that Eddi Arent signed on for! He's the best in his field!

Once the girls get in the bank and gas everybody, he puts on this suit of armor and sets up this Gatling type gun and blasts the crap out of the vault door!

To the victors go the spoils!

Before I forget, the music in "The Trygon Factor" is by the always amazing Peter Thomas time after time after time! And where's the best place to get Peter Thomas music for yourself?

BSC Music, of course!

 

Oh, don't worry, Sophie and Stewart have it all under control!

But then again, maybe not!

Aw, just kidding! Despite all odds, they got it all figured out after all!

"The Trygon Factor" is a fun movie to watch!

 It's an Edgar Wallace story, that's it! Not much else matters!

DER SCHWARZE ABT - "The Black Abbot" - Martin Böttcher (1963)

Wow! I actually found enough time to get around to watching a full-length film this week, and I'm glad I did, cause it was a good one!
Welcome to the "Black Abbot," and the Wednesday edition of The Dungeon!
One of the reasons I started this whole blog in the first place was to showcase the music of some great musicians and composers, and one of the best in the business is the brilliant German composer Martin Böttcher! Here's a bit of the theme from "Der Schwarze Abt" for your enjoyment, and if that whets your appetite, there's lots more to found at BSC Music!

The next time someone asks me a rhetorical question like "Who in history would you like to have dinner with," I'm going to say Edgar Wallace and Alfred Hitchcock over for some BBQ ribs, and a couple of beers sounds like a night to remember for me!

And here they all are, Joachim Fuchsberger in the middle, Klaus Kinski on his left, and Eddi Arent on his right! The gentleman on the far right is Charles (The Terror Of Dr. Mabuse) Régnier as Detective Puddler! Actually, a dinner with this group would also have been pretty damn interesting! Fuchsberger, Kinski, and Arent are like a German theatrical version of a power trio like Cream! Fuchsberger could be Clapton, Kinski Ginger Baker, and Arent Jack Bruce! 
Krazy nice colour credits for a black and white film!!

There is no way in Hell I can try and explain what's going on in this film in a handful of photographs! It's Edgar Wallace, you're not supposed to be able to explain it in just a few words!

There's lot of sneaking around, peeping, and a hiding!

You've got this whole anti-relationship thing going on between the despicable Werner (Das Phantom Von Soho) Peters character, and Grit (Code Name:Jaguar) Boettcher, the gal he's madly in love with!

This shot looks like it came from a Hitchcock film!

At first, it's kind of hard to tell what this is, but it's a bat hanging upside down!

I kept expecting a vampire to show up at any given time!

No vampires, but lots of hooded creeps wandering around!

Here's another great shot that looks like it came out of a Hitchcock film!

This one, not so much!

No matter where they go, there seems to always be somebody watching!

Here's a reverse shot, from the inside looking out after Eddi falls into a hole!

You never knew for sure, but as it turns out, there was some treasure that was worth all the loco commotion!

Will the joyful couple go off and live happily ever after?

It's an Edgar Wallace movie, what do you think??

If you like movies that keep you guessing, then "The Black Abbot" is right up your alley, because it's fairly fast paced, has a great atmospheric look like an older Universal film, and is unpredictable because basically everybody is a suspect at some point, and it's readily available from 

Sinister Cinema!