Absolutely Fantastic

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The first series of replays of the German Edgar Wallace i did see as a child and i have loved it ever since (at least the top items, where this one and "Der Zinker" are top notch. Very much German style British made, this is always still suspense, thrill, charming ladies and light entertainment perfectly combined. And we all know things will end well as they must in 60s movies in Germany of this Wirtschaftswunder era. It is reliably replayed in Germany in series by the multiple stations, where the reels seem to be rotate around, don't miss it if you can get it (forgo the latter, especially the colored ones. What was won in color was more then lost in suspense and coolness).

German version of the often filmed Edgar Wallace story called the Ringer. I saw another version of this story a few months back titled The Gaunt Stranger, which was a nifty little film. Here we have the story redone as part of the cycle of Wallace films and its been updated to the 1960's.The plot has the criminal known as the Ringer returning to London to get revenge for the death of his sister. the police want the Ringer for long ago crimes and know that he is not one to be trifled with. As the Ringer zeroes in on his target, the police attempt to figure out who the ringer is, he's been too long from London and no one knows who he is, except his wife and she isn't saying.A good version of the story it pales in comparison to the Gaunt Stranger which was so good that even when you figured out what was going on you doubted that you were right. Here things are more amusing than anything else and you're only hope to know who the Ringer is was to see an earlier version. Recommended if you run across it, but not something to search out.

When Gwenda Milton is murdered in London, her brother returns from Australia to find the killers. His nickname is "Hexer" ("wizard") because he wears many masks and can disappear without a trace. The police have a love/hate relationship with him, because he takes justice into his own hands, but justice it undeniably is. The success of this movie is owed to an excellent marketing strategy. The production company locked the final pages of the screenplay away, so that even the actors didn't know before the day of shooting who would be the Hexer in disguise. Neither will I tell you now. The whole movie builds up tension until this final revelation.Of course there are the popular actors of the Edgar Wallace series (Fuchsberger, Drache, Lowitz, Aren't, Schürenberg), plus an excellent Margot Trooger - calm, yet charming -, but it's the story in the first place which makes "Der Hexer" memorable.

During the sixties and early seventies dozens of Edgar Wallace films were made in Germany, all of them highly popular. Most of them black and white, most of them with Eddi Aren't and Siegfried Schürenberg two of the unknown geniuses of German cinema. This one is the best of the lot. The sister of a famous retired criminal, Arthur Milton, aka der Hexer, (literally the Magician but I think called the Ringer in the Wallace book) is murdered. Scottland Yard thinks that Milton will return to revenge her. Inspector Higgins (Joachim Fuchsberger in typical role) with the help of Warren (Siefried Löwitz) is trying to get him. There is also a mysterious Australian writer called Wesby (Heinz Drache). Is he the Hexer? One by one of the murderers is killed by the Hexer. Very questionable ethics, of course. But our sympathies are with him. You never see him until the very end, but you see his wife, played by the most elegant of German actresses, Margot Trooger. And a man with a wife like that cannot be really bad. There is wonderful innocent sixties charm all the way through, suspense and humour which make this film a true highlite. Siegfried Schürenberg as Sir John has one of the best running gags in movie history there. "Das hätten Sie doch berücksichtigen müssen." (You should have thought of that). Nice twist ending. The only post war German movie that ranks among the best films ever made.