THE STRANGLER OF BLACKMOOR CASTLE On Blu-ray From Eureka

 

I wrote a blog post on this movie in January of this year, but it is included in Eureka's TERROR IN THE FOG box set of 1960s German Krimis. THE STRANGLER OF BLACKMOOR CASTLE looks fantastic here, with a very sharp black & white print presented in the movie's original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. This version also contains the original main title credits sequence. 

BLACKMOOR CASTLE is one of the better overall non-Edgar Wallace Krimis, with a major star of that genre, Karin Dor, as the female lead, and fine direction by Harald Reinl. In my January post on the film I ventured the opinion that Reinl might have gotten more atmosphere out of the title location, but seeing this restored print I think the director and cinematographer Ernst W. Kalinke brought plenty of visual suspense to the tale. 

Like the other films in the TERROR IN THE FOG set, BLACKMOOR CASTLE comes with German and English voice tracks, along with English subtitles. Tim Lucas provides an introduction in which he explains that while the film's story is credited to a Bryan Edgar Wallace novel, it was actually written by Gustav Kampendonk (there's a name for you) and Ladislas Fodor. The movie also has a brand new commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby. It's a lively one, with the duo clearly enjoying their talk and discussing such subjects as the lack of confirmed info on the life of Bryan Edgar Wallace and the typical Krimi's bizarre attempts at creating a believable early 1960s England. 

One of the most important things about the TERROR IN THE FOG set is that it provides the best versions so far of a number of Krimi films for Region A & B audiences. Most of these features have only been available on public domain or below-average home video versions, or they could only be seen on shoddy YouTube videos. When one sees these Krimis uncut and properly restored on Blu-ray, one realizes how well-made and effective they really are.