Review: The Devil’s Daffodil

An Anglo airline security officer (Joachim Fuchsberger) and a Chinese detective named Ling Chu (Christopher Lee) investigate a series of murders of young women that seem to be connected to a heroin smuggling ring involving hollowed-out plastic daffodils. Scotland Yard (represented by Walter Gotell) is also on the case, with the security officer and Ling Chu eventually combining their resources to track the killer down. Peter Illing plays a bar manager whom Ling Chu prises information from in torturous fashion, whilst Klaus Kinski plays to type as a disturbed man, and Albert Lieven is the crooked club owner.

 

One of my white whales in trying to get my eyes on every movie Christopher Lee ever made, this 1961 West German-UK co-production from Hungarian director Akos Rathonyi (“Don’t Blame the Stork” with Ian Hunter, Brenda de Banzie, and Thora Hird) is yet another Edgar Wallace mystery. The Germans seemed obsessed with the author, with the Brits not far behind. This is a solid film, with nice, shadowy B&W cinematography by Desmond Dickinson (“Fire Down Below”, “The City of the Dead”, “Berserk”), and mostly well-acted as well. The plot can be a touch unwieldy given all the characters here to keep track of, but I’m glad I finally caught up with this one.

 

The supporting cast proves far more interesting here than leading man Joachim Fuchsberger who isn’t terribly charismatic. He’s fine, it’s just that he’s the least interesting person on show here. Unlike “Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace” and “The Secret of the Blood Orchid”, Christopher Lee does his own German language dubbing here…to play a Chinese guy. An English actor speaking German playing a Chinese man. Yeah, it’s a lot to take in, but at least you’re hearing Lee’s real voice. White actors in ‘Asian’ makeup is on the nose obviously, but Lee generally didn’t look too bad in the makeup and his overall performance is quite good. The character itself is in the film a lot more than Lee’s low billing might suggest and is a really interesting, shadowy figure. The only issue is with the fortune cookie Chinese proverb-driven dialogue Lee has been given. It’s clichéd and annoying. Walter Gotell, Marius Goring (as a shonky businessman), and Peter Illing are also solid, and despite having a minor role Klaus Kinski is hard to ignore here. The killer isn’t hard to figure out here, but just because you can figure out who, doesn’t mean you’ll have all the pieces to the mystery, so it still entertains.

 

A much better German/UK co-produced effort than the subsequent “The Secret of the Blood Orchid”, this crime-mystery film (shot in England) is a must for Christopher Lee completists. He plays the most interesting character here. In fact, with a more charismatic and interesting lead the film might’ve been even better. Based on an Edgar Wallace novel, the screenplay is by Egon Eis (“The Secret of the Blood Orchid”), Horst Wendlandt (more prolific as a producer including “The Secret of the Blood Orchid”), and Gerhard F. Hummel (“The Inn on the River”, another Wallace adaptation).

 

Rating: B-

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more