THE DEAD EYES OF LONDON

The uniquely German film genre known as “krimi” is a vein of crime thrillers inspired by the novels of British mystery writer Edgar Wallace. Beginning in the late ‘50s, krimi films feature a madcap blend of elements: horror, crime, mystery, and police procedural, with elements of fantasy and science fiction, resulting in an often surreal mashup of genre tropes. They follow a simple format inspired by the crime serial of silent filmmakers like Louis Feuillade: a detective, generally from Scotland Yard, is hot on the trail of a criminal mastermind and must wade through an outlandish sea of potential suspects. Red herrings and fake identities abound. The antagonists are usually masked members of a fantastical criminal conspiracy. We’ve selected one of the best for inclusion in our series on Super Krime.

In THE DEAD EYES OF LONDON, wealthy, heavily insured men are being murdered at an alarming rate. Scotland Yard investigates and finds clues that lead to a ring of blind men, led by a mysterious “reverend.” Alfred Vohrer's first entry as director in the krimi genre hits all the right marks: stylish, absurd, and full of the secret passages, secret identities, and sadistic murders that make the German Wallace mysteries stand out as altogether more cartoonish, bold and salacious than what anyone else was doing at the time. And this one features plenty of screen time from the most terrifying man to ever become an actor: Klaus Kinski! Pure pulp pleasure.