Terror in the Fog: The Wallace Krimi At CCC – Boxset Review

By Sarah Morgan

As any self-respecting fan of vintage crime novels knows, Edgar Wallace was once one of the genre biggest names, churning out titles faster than you can say “stabbed in the back”.

He died in 1932 at the age of 56, having written around 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and more than 170 novels; he also dabbled in journalism and film (he was in Hollywood working on the original version of King Kong at the time of his death).

“Mysterious cult”

Around 160 movies have been based on Wallace’s work, many of them made in West Germany, where he was a major literary star. During the 1960s, several were big box office hits, prompting Artur Brauner, who had already revived silent era Dr Mabuse for the big screen, to launch his own franchise. However, as Wallace’s name was being used by another producer, Brauner approached Wallace’s son, Bryan Edgar Wallace.

Five of the subsequent movies they collaborated on form the basis of this excellent boxset, but if you’ve read Bryan’s novels, don’t expect to see lots of adaptations here – instead, for the most part, he’s merely leant his name to the films to add some cache and, as Brauner hoped, boost their box office potential.

They are, however, a worthy addition to the genre dubbed ‘krimi’ in its native country and which, due to its use of masked, gloved killers and shadowy lighting, is seen as a direct influence on Italy’s giallo movies, which came slightly later, and the slasher films of the 1980s.

The boxset opens in style with The Curse of the Yellow Snake, in which a mysterious cult goes in search of an artefact transported from Hong Kong to London. It’s followed by chilling murders in The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle, the vigilante thriller The Mad Executioners, Jack the Ripper-style slayings in The Monster of London City and, last but not least, The Racetrack Murders (also known as The Seventh Victim).

“Bumped off”

However, the best of the lot has been added as a special feature only, due to the fact that, unlike the others, it can be presented only in standard definition rather than in a 2K restoration. The Phantom of Soho takes viewers into London’s seedy underworld, where high-profile figures are being bumped off by a mysterious figure.

A must for fans of the crime genre, the discs are packed with bonus offerings, including introductions to each film by genre expert Tim Lucas and a fascinating interview with Brauner’s daughter. There are audio commentaries aplenty too, although it might be nice if, the next time such a boxset is released, they’re done by less well-worn names who may have fresher perspectives.