THE MYSTERIOUS MAGICIAN / Rialto Film Preben-Philipsen - 1964

Let's just put it this way... We dig Edgar Wallace the most, here at The Dungeon! These are a few things about him you might find interesting... He died at the age of 56 in 1932 in Hollywood during the production of KING KONG, he has had the greatest number of novels made into movies for a 20th century author, his son, Bryan, followed in his footsteps as a writer of thriller novels, in his heyday, his popularity as a writer was second only to Charles Dickens, his popularity exploded onto the screen and TV 30 years after his death, and, said this... An Academic is someone who has found something more interesting than sex!

Eegah!! has submitted a neat little soundclip for our auditory indulgence, showing how much fun you could have with a movie theme back in 1964! I love this craziness, soooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the slobbering green Trigor, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's the coolest theme around, enjoy... THE MYSTERIOUS MAGICIAN!

This flick has a submarine that transports dead bodies to a secret underground location!

The intricate story goes something like this.. The sister of a famous criminal named The Hexer is mysteriously murdered, that's her in the submarine. Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard is called in, he thinks The Hexer will surface to take his revenge on the killers, and, he plans to set some traps to capture him. As the dead bodies start piling up, it looks like The Hexer will elude the police yet again! The masked Hexer is only exposed in the last suspenseful minutes of the film.

The great Joachim Fuchsberger plays the astute Inspector Higgins, here, being driven around town by his girlfriend in her convertible. Joachim is still working today!

The Inspector has been participating in some photographic extracurricular activities with his secretary! His girlfriend checks it out.

Heinz Drache plays Wesby, here, aparently looking for clues to the mystery. Heinz was also in HYPNOSIS, COFFIN FROM HONG KONG, PSYCHO-CIRCUS, THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU and THE MONSTER OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE.

The Inspector is hot on The Hexer's trail!

But, ends up in this half dressed girl's apartment!

Then later, gets to enjoy the company of his girlfriend after her hot steamy shower... What a life, poor guy!

I saw a few German art films when I was stationed there in 1969, they ALL had peep-hole voyeurism going on!

Here's a good shot of the secret submarine lair.

And, here's another good shot of a secret submarine lair.

So then, you'll just have to track down this little thriller to enjoy all the wild action for yourself!

The original German poster..

DIE WEISSE SPINNE - Peter Thomas - "The White Spider" (1963)

Bug Kudos to Sinister Cinema for bringing out the series of Edgar Wallace films, "England's Master of Mystery & Horror" at a very reasonable price, and for including titles like "The White Spider" which even though it isn't an Edgar Wallace film, or English, it falls into the category of "And Others He Inspired" quite nicely!

No strangers to the strange world of Edgar Wallace, director Harold Reinl, and writer Egon Eis are able to spin this tale of a mad makeup artist as well as the master himself!! Harold Reinl also directed "Room 13" and the three best Jerry Cotton Movies! Mystery movies just don't get much better than this!!

A staple in German films of this era, Dieter Eppler shines like a bald diamond as the multi-faceted, and multi-faced Summerfield! Eye patch AND sunglasses at night, now that's a wild cat!! Summerfield is a very bad dude, and besides car crashes, he also has a penchant for cable and hangings!

Karin Dor as Muriel Irvine, the tortured widow left behind, made a successful transition from German to U.S. film, with her roles in Alfred Hitchcock's "Topaz" and Ian Fleming's James Bond vehicle, "You Only Live Twice."

Is the little white spider good luck or is it bad luck? Muriel's husband dies in a fiery car crash as he was leaving The Club, but what's really behind the whole thing?

The Germans have their own special ways of dealing with employees that they have a disagreement with!

Meet Horst Frank as Kiddie Phelips, one of the most devious henchmen you don't ever want to meet. He looks harmless enough, but he is a vicious killer! Last time we saw Horst was as crime boss Larry Link in the classic Jerry Cotton feature, "The Traps Snaps Shut At Midnight!"

The last, but definitely not least major player in "The White Spider" is yet another Dungeon iconoclast, Joachim Fuchsberger as just plain ole Ralph Hubbard!

Ralph is literally up to his ears in trouble as the smartass ex-con trying to help Muriel sort out all the problems after her husband's untimely demise!!

The music for "Die Weisse Spinne" was composed by one of the Dungeon's major musical heroes, and all around nice guy, the masestro Peter Thomas! Peter's work is always just one step above the rest, driven by boundless imagination and unpredictable jazzy scores. Besides everything else, he wrote the music for "Raumpatrouille" the German Space Patrol, The Jerry Cotton films, and a score of Edgar Wallace movies. Just a couple of titles we may have never mentioned before are "To Hell With School," "The Mysterious Magician," and "Face Of The Frog!"

Kiddie and Summerfield have a brief disagreement, and Summerfield quickly shows Kiddie who's the boss with one of his cable lasso tricks!

Ever want a cheap but very effective scary ass Halloween mask? Well, don't forget about the old silk stocking over the head routine, it always looks freaky!!

There's also a very mysterious force being emitted by the authorities, and even the local law enforcement can be subject to intense interrogation!

I can't count high enough, so I don't know exactly how many different personas Summerfield takes on during the course of the film, but I'm pretty sure it's more than Tony Randall in "7 Faces Of Dr. Lao!"

Here's even a couple more, let's hope he got paid salaries for each different character, it would only be fair!

In the film "The College Girl Murders," I wrote that Joachim Fuchsberger was chewing gum throughout the whole movie, in this one, I think he's munching on something about half the time! What a great character!

Joachim is the only one smart enough to carry wirecutters around with him!

I'm not sure exactly who to credit for set design, but isn't this a wild amalgamation of objects? There's a skeleton, a Balinese carved mask, a poster of a polka trio, and Lord only knows what else just for starters!

In The End, this whole amazing film gets a most deserved standing ovation, kinda like when CREAM reunited, it's an all-star ensemble!!

PEPITO AND THE MONSTER / Cinematográfica Roma - 1957

Here's a rare little flick about a young boy who witnesses the disposal of a body by a magician and his brutish assistant, but the police do not believe his story. So, he seeks to find the evidence on his own. Pepe Romay was a popular child actor who appeared in several movies as the character of Pepito. The monster is the magician's brutish assistant and even appears in a gorilla suit at one point.

I have a sound clip with some creepy and swinging sounds for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our monster cave, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's... PEPITO AND THE MONSTER!

Anyway, Pepito is a little busy-body who sneaks into a theater to catch a magician's act.

Lo and behold, Pepito is chosen from the audience to participate in a very special trick!..

And, gets sawed in half to the delight of the crowd (and, Tabonga).

Another magician shows up to find out why his tricks were being used in the act, and, gets a dagger in the back for his effort. The brutish assistant takes him away.

You'd scream like a little girl, too...

If this guy was chasing you around with that big knife!

Pepito's family's a bunch of amateur sleuths who dress a little on the weird side...

The swinging tunes in the sound clip are being swung to by these teens. The band responsible for the music in this scene is 'The Rockets.'

In order to solve the mystery, Pepito decides to go undercover and so dresses up like a mysterious Asian Prince!

Again, what the Hell's up with fifties Mexican fashion?!.. Holy cow, Batsman!!

Pepito searches for the monster's whereabouts and ends up spending some time with him! Notice the decapitated head in the top photo.

Here, the monster and Pepito's friend have a tug of war over him, wonder who wins this match?.. Eegah!! will be here tomorrow with another treat, jus' fer ya'll... Yee-Hah!!