Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

one of my absolute favorites!

A Masterpiece!

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Using a spear gun as a weapon of choice the Shark kills those who cross his path leaving a trail of dead in the Thames. Investigating the matters the police discover that all of the deaths seem connected to a smuggling operation.Dark and moody Edgar Wallace adaption is an enjoyable mystery. I've been making my way through the films in the series over the past couple of weeks and this is one of the more solid entries. It helps that the setting is not the typical English manor house but instead the environs in and around the river. Helping things along is a great cast, many of whom have appeared all through the series including Klaus Kinski.If one wants to see Kinski's range as an actor one need only watch the films he appears in this series since he's often very different in each one. I really recommend this film as an enjoyable film to curl up with on a dark and stormy night.(I've seen it a couple of times now and enjoyed each viewing)

This was the most successful film of the legendary Edgar Wallace series in Germany which ran from 1959 to 1972."Gasthaus" has an creepy and mysterious atmosphere,filmed in Hamburg along the river Alster, and not on Location in London. Along with a very good story and some nice plot twists, it is a movie i will always like to watch. It has also one of the best casts in the Wallace history. Along with regulars Joachim Fuchsberger,Eddi Aren't Siegfried Schürenberg and the always great Klaus Kinski German movie greats like Elisabeth Flickenschildt,Heinz Engelmann,Brigitte Grothum and Richard Münch ad to the fun.Since the movies are regularly rerun on German TV and the entire series has recently appeared on DVD, be sure to watch this one. Of course to watch the others isn't a bad idea either.

This 1962 mystery is the first exposure I've had to the Edgar Wallace krimi adaptations. I enjoyed it quite a bit although the mystery was a bit too convoluted. There is even a "So and so did this because..." explanation towards the end but I still have a few questions. Anyway, the film is about a killer named The Shark who is killing people in London with a speargun. He is able to get away because he dresses in a scuba outfit and uses the city sewer lines to escape. Inspector Wade (Joachim Fuchsberger) of Scotland Yard is on the case.The film has a lot going for it, especially in the Theremin themed bits involving The Shark. The image of the killer in an all black wetsuit is atmospherically shot and suitably creepy. Dick Maas was definitely impressed by it because he used it to similar effect in the 80s action thriller AMSTERDAMNED. Another plus is a young Klaus Kinski in a major supporting role as sleazy French businessman. On the downside, the film features some awkward comic relief in the form of the bumbling Barnaby character. And, as I mentioned earlier, it does get confusing for a bit. At one point three men in black scuba suits are running around. However, the end revelation of who The Shark is pretty unexpected and director Alfred Vohrer does his best to send you off the track.

This is another in the series of German krimi's based on the works of Edgar Wallace.After sitting through several less than average of these this one rises above the water(pun intended) a bit.There is a killer called The Shark terrorizing the Thames.He has a propensity to shoot folks with a spear gun.The Shark is also the criminal mastermind behind a gem smuggling ring that is driving Scotland Yard up the wall.Inspector Wade of the River Police is put in charge of the case.Most of the action centers around a waterfront dive called Mekka.The owners smuggle in contraband whiskey and are tied up with the Shark somehow.Red herrings and double indentities are as usual plentiful.There is also a plot to attain one of the greatest inheritances in England.The black & white photography adds a lot of flavor to this film. The Thames at night looks to be a place that you don't want to be. The use of night fog is pretty eerie.The sets are well done. You do feel like you're in a very seedy waterfront dive.The plot moves along well and the movie is ably directed. You have to take the acting at face value as you can never really tell with the dubbing.The same stable of actors is used from film to film which is always fun to see them in different roles.As usual there are some drawbacks. The opening title theme is hysterically funny. It is punctuated with yells, screams and a cuckoo clock.In fact there are so many badly done songs in the first ten minutes you think you're watching a musical. As usual Eddie Arndt plays the broad comic relief which while a staple in this series never fails to irritate.All in all a small cut above the average in this series.