STRANGLER OF THE TOWER (1966)
aka Der Wurger vom Tower
Article 3708 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-24-2011
Posting Date: 10-9-2011
Directed by Hans Mehringer
Featuring Ady Berber, Birgit Bergen, Rainer Bertram
Country: West Germany
What it is: Krimi… but not from the usual people

A strangler is on the loose killing people who possess jewels that were cut from an allegedly cursed gem. Is a cult of Kali responsible?

I must have seen enough krimis to be familiar enough with the form now; after a few minutes of this one, I found myself checking the production company to see if it was different from the usual production company (Rialto), and sure enough, it was; it’s from Urania. That may be why I didn’t quite get the same feel from it as I do the other krimis, and, despite the fact that the movie currently has an 8.8 rating on IMDB, I found it fairly weak. It is nice to see the big hulking Ady Berber again as the title character, but, truth to tell, he’s barely in it, and the whole movie has a dry, forced tone to it. Berber’s killer and the Kali cult are the big horror elements here, but as is usual with the form, it’s more of a mystery than a horror movie.