The Dead Eyes of London

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Audience Member Vohrer's first Edgar Wallace adaptation for Rialto, this is based on the same story as the inferior British production Dark Eyes of London from twenty years earlier that served as a Lugosi vehicle. This version also incorporates a decidedly simian blind killer, Ady Berber, bearing a striking resemblance to fellow wrestler Tor Johnson. With hair matted on his forearms to a comic yet chilling extent, when he gleefully sets in for the kill. That aside, everything about this production is better - except for the absence of Bela. Cinematographer Karl Loeb, (Mabuse, Old Shatterhand) provides the viewer with many p.o.v. shots, extreme angles, ocular imagery and trauma, reflections in Kinski's shades, broken mirrors and glass, and even a television that fires back. This theme is carried off well, as are the increasingly cruel murders by the unseen killer. Having his brutal and murderous henchmen mortally terrified and helpless before him serves to build emphasis up for the reveal. This lacks the swing and dixieland inflected scoring that Peter Thomas would later bring to the series. But Heinz Funk puts in some innovative electronic stabs for key scenes, and the use of Beethoven's Fifth to score a Thames corpse disposal and the climactic duel is very effective. One wonders if Kubrick perhaps saw this, as well if its cinematography perhaps more directly influenced Argento and Fulci. Dead Eyes of London also incorporates the cool, desktop, skull-shaped cigarette dispenser seen later in the series, as well as a screeching black cat doorbell. Let us hope for a future marketing tie-in. Retromedia has released a decent but still dubbed print of Dead Eyes on a double bill dvd with The Ghost, starring Barbara Steele. It is less than ideal, but improves on the earlier single-disc of the film by itself. Sadly, the R2 Edgar Wallace Edition set does not include subtitles or an English dub for this film. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Not bad, not bad at all. Really really good even. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member fucking awesome. german expressionistic take on noir and police procedural with a touch of horror. not much violence but a whole lot of suspense. great atmosphere and casting only criticism is its about 15 minutes too long. the blind killer is fucking creepy! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member This was my introduction to the German krimi genre, sort of a combination of the Italian giallo (which succeeded it) and film noir. Oddly enough, it's set in London but most of the actors are dubbed in generic 1950s American accents. A young Klaus Kinski is in this; too bad he didn't get more screen time. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Dead Eyes of London

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