Bessie Smyth
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Der unheimliche Mönch" or "The Sinister Monk" is a German movie from 1965, so it is already over 50 years old. The director is Harald Reinl and he made this one before moving on to Winnetou when Vohrer continued with the Edgar Wallace franchise. This one here is among the earlier German Edgar Wallace film from roughly half a century ago and it also shows because this one is still in black-and-white. Also it has lots of suspense, but the horror aspects from the latter films are missing completely. However, monks (especially with whips) were a famous thing apparently in these films and I must say this one here is not worse than the one about the monk that they made a couple years later in color. Honestly, the antagonist (=title character) is not as foolish in this older version. But unluckily, the story isn't more interesting either and I dare say both films are pretty underwhelming. The comedy aspect is also still missing in this older film here. The most known cast members here are certainly Karin Dor and Ilse Steppat (still a while before her appearance in a James Bond film and untimely death). But sadly, this duo is not good enough either to make this a rewarding watch. I give it a thumbs-down and I am actually glad it only runs for slightly over 80 minutes. Not recommended.
Red-Barracuda
I'm not really much of an expert on the German sub-genre known as the Krimi. It seemed to be the predominant European mystery-thriller genre before the Italian giallo went into hyper-drive at the dawn of the 70's. The Krimi was a lot less menacing and flamboyant than their Italian counterparts but they shared a focus on cinematic style. Like many, The Sinister Monk was based on a story by the English writer Edgar Wallace. The story can be summarised as thus - a girl inherits a fortune from her grandfather but doesn't get to know about it as her greedy, scheming relatives steal the will; she is subsequently invited to stay at their boarding school where they intend to deal with her but almost immediately a series of strange murders are committed by a mysterious monk character.So we have a girls boarding school, a family of unpleasant characters fighting over an inheritance, a killer monk whose weapon of choice is a whip which he skilfully strangles victims with, a schoolgirl who carries a water-pistol loaded with sulphuric acid, odd side characters such as a weird death mask making artist who lives in one of the high towers of the school and an ominous new French teacher. Add to this a sub-plot concerning girls from the school seemingly going missing on a regular basis and you have quite a lot of interesting ingredients to make this one up. To make matters even better there is an over-the-top, flamboyant soundtrack that gives off a cool 60's vibe. While the main girl is played by the rather gorgeous Karin Dor who would star later in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz and the eccentric artist is played by Rudolf Schündler who would turn up several years later as a strange professor of witch-craft in Dario Argento's Suspiria. Despite being a German film, this one is set in and around London. But this was a common trait of the Krimi, used to help sell them overseas. Overall, it's a very good film for those wishing to experience a Krimi for the first time. It's a lot of fun.
morrison-dylan-fan
After having enjoyed my intro to the Krimi sub-genre with the fun The Secret of the Black Trunk,I decided the for my next taste of the Krimi cream that I would take a look at one of the titles that starred "the queen of the Krimi's":Karin Dor.The plot:Attending the reading of their fathers will shortly after having loyal sat by his bedside as he died,the family are horrified to hear from their dad's solicitor,that just before he died,their father changed his will,so that the only thing the his "loyal" family get,would be a boarding school that his daughter (Lady Patricia) has been running for years,with the rest of his property and cash all going to his beloved granddaughter Gwendolin.Heading back to his office so that he can official record the changes that the man made on his death bed,the solicitor is stopped in his tracks by a black coat wearing member of the family,who due to being furious in the way that their dad has betrayed them,kills the solicitor and runs off with the only known copy of the will.A few days later:Gathering in Patricia's boarding school to share their now mutual hated of dad,kind family member Richard gives everyone the shock of their lives,when he revels that he now has the will in his hands,thanks to it being sent to him from an anonymous source.Thrilled by the second chance that they have been given,most of the family begin to plan on how they can get rid of Gwendolin. (who does not know anything about what she has inherited) so that they can write the wrong that their father has put on them.Horrified over the murder plans that she is hearing from the rest of her family, (whilst also starting to wonder how she can use her brains to get some cash out of Gwendolin) Lady Patricia decides to invite Gwendolin up for a "holiday" at her boarding school,so that Patricia can keep a watchful eye on her granddaughter,and her bloodthirsty family members.Arriving to Lady Patricia's boarding school thrilled that she will be able to catch up with relatives who she has not seen for years,Gwendolin soon begins to suspect that something much more sinister may be connected to this family reunion,when a stranger carrying a long whip and wearing a monks outfit starts haunting the school grounds and killing Gwendolin's "loyal" family members,one by one.View on the film:Showing colour to seep into the opening credits of this otherwise black and white film,director Harald Reinl makes his and Reinl's then- wife Karin Dor's departure from the Krimi sub-genre one that goes off with real style that brings the curtain down on the "B & W" era of the genre with a real elegance.Keeping the film mostly confined to Lady Patricia's boarding school,Reinl creates a wonderful mysterious atmosphere by placing each of Gwendolin's family members around the edges of the screen,so that the viewer may pick up a piece of the puzzle from the corner of their eyes when the family members drop their mask at the very corner of the screen.Soaking the Krimi in a Film Noir fog,Reinl displays a strong,ultra stylised pop-art eye for each of the appearances from the black wove wearing sinister monk,with Reinl making the monk's white whip slash across the screen like a lightning bolt,as the monk's killing of the family members,leads to the person behind "the monk" getting closer and closer to wrapping the deadly whip around Gwendolin's innocent neck.For their smart adaptation of the Edgar Wallace novel The Terror,writer's Fred Denger and J. Joachim Bartsch (who sadly died just before the movie came out) deliver a superb screenplay that combines Film Noir,Giallo and Krimi elements that make the nail-biting murder- mystery plot a truly tense,edge of the seat thrill ride.Backed by a suitably weird sounding Hammond organ score by Peter Thomas,Denger and Bartsch smartly inject off-beat Black Comedy moments into the film, (from one of the boarding school girl's filling a plastic gun with acid for protection,to one of the family members being obsessed with making "death masks"!) so that they can also subtly place clues to the real identity of The Monk,without completely raising the viewer's alert on their first viewing.Along with the great off-beat comedic moments in the movie,Denger and Bartsch gradually push a Film Noir mood right to the front,with the blood-thirsty,money hungry bond that each of the family share slowly unravelling across the screen,thanks to the monk's killing spree creating a rough friction between each of them,which leads to them not being able to tell "shadows" of Gwendolin apart,and also causes each of the family members to drop their mask to Gwendolin one by one,to reveal the ruthless,vicious darkness that lurks behind each of their cheerful smiles.Marking her official farewell to be the "queen" of the Krimi, the very pretty Karin Dor gives an excellent performance that balances Gwendolin's inner nativity with a striking Gothic Horror like outer appearance.Keeping Gwendolin's smile on the corner of the lips,Dor shows Gwendolin's smile to fade away as she starts to unknowingly investigate the slots that each of her family members fit into,which leads to Karin showing Gwendolin search around the darken corners of her family,whilst also becoming extremely determined in unmasking the identity of the Krimi Sinister Monk.
dbborroughs
When an old man dies just after making his will, the attorney carrying the will is killed in a car crash and the will is stolen. The will then shows up just before the estate is to be divided. The vultures of the family then scheme to prevent the rightful heir from taking possession of the estate, but a dark monk like figure begins to bump people off. Good Edgar Wallace adaptation is done in by in appropriate Hammond organ music which cuts across the proceedings. The music simply destroys any sense of mood and dread each time its heard. Who's idea was it to use it? It's a shame because this is one of the better later Wallace films. Worth a look if you can discount the music (and a couple of moments –the final death- that are just plain silly)
