Volumes 9 and 10 of the Edgar Wallace krimis apparently came out last March on Blu-ray in 4K restorations, but I'm only finding out about them now. I received my copies today and celebrated this evening by watching Alfred Vohrer's DER MANN MIT DEM GLASAUGE ("The Man with the Glass Eye," 1968), his final film and one of his best. I never realized this till tonight, so it may be the doing of the restoration, but it has one of the most dazzling main titles sequences I've ever seen. Its visual storytelling, the cinematography by Karl Löb, evokes the work Mario Bava was making at this time while also paying homage to the color lighting and the sardonic exposé of life behind the glamor and entertainment industries in Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964). Just as Bava was unique to Italy, there was no one else quite like Vohrer in German cinema, so wonderfully mad and audacious. I would have to say he was a more kinetic filmmaker than Bava, that his main goal was to amuse, thrill, and dazzle his audiences. I believe he had authentic genius.
Die Tür mit den 7 Schlössern / THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS
Der Mann mit dem Glasauge / THE MAN WITH THE GLASS EYE
Die Tote aus der Themse / THE CORPSE FROM THE THAMES
Das Verrätertor / TRAITOR'S GATE
Der Gorilla von Soho / THE GORILLA GANG
Das Gesicht im Dunkeln / DOUBLE FACE
DAR VERRÄTERTOR is a distinct German version of the film Freddie Francis also directed in an English version known as TRAITOR'S GATE. It does NOT feature English audio or subtitles, perhaps for contractual reasons to do with the English version.
I am not yet certain whether DOUBLE FACE is the same cut that Arrow Video released awhile back with my audio commentary, but I suspect the German version will be the same version as previously released in German Wallace sets.
Click on the blue titles to link to the Amazon.de sales pages.
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