| Krimi #8 The College Girl Murders |
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| Sometimes you can find a movie easily.Others are like trying to find the Holy Grail.Sometimes if you're patient the Grail falls into your lap.Thanks to a poster at a movie board I was alerted to the fact that AMC would be airing an Edgar Wallace movie that I had been trying to see for two years. I had been trying to locate a copy of The Monk With The Whip aka The College Girl Murders for some time.I could have spent $25 and bought a copy from a grey market video dealer.Thankfully I held out and just hoped for picking it up in a trade.Thenl I heard that The Prussic Factor was indeed The College Girl Murders. This movie is basically a color remake or sequel of a sorts to the 1965 black and white The Sinister Monk.Grisly murders at a girl's school and a whip wielding monk are the common ingredients. As usual there are plenty of suspects, red herrings and characters who are not who or what they seem to be.Some of the teachers are dirty old man & with all of the young ladies around temptation is great.Could this be why the girls are being systematically murdered with a prussic acid derivative?Or is there something even more sinister behind it? There is a nod to the movie Return Of Dr Mabuse with the use of cons being sprung nightly from jail to commit foul deeds.They return safely with the perfect alibi of being locked up. There are some arresting visuals in this film.When the Red Monk steps out of the foggy cemetary it is a striking shot.In fact the Monk does this quite frequently but it never seems to lose the powerful effect.The red outfit with the white whip is a real eye catcher. The musical score by Martin Bottcher is again a jazzy top notch affair. The film itself is well directed and moves along at a very brisk pace.You don't have a chance to get bored. On the downside a lot of characters are quickly introduced and then bumped off.We don't get too much background on anybody and the motive for the killings is rather forced.The reasons for the killings in The Sinister Monk was more plausible and you had more time with the suspects and/or murder victims. Sir John (Higgins' boss) is played as a bumbling dolt strictly for unfunny laughs.The comedy bits in the krimis fail to amuse me for the most part.This is no exception.Sir John is smarter than this. Even though this series was running out of fresh plot ideas by this time this is worth watching if it ever airs again. |
| Site Map More Edgar Wallace Creature With The Blue Hand The Black Abbot Strangler Of Blackmoor Castle Phantom Of Soho Circus Of Fear Dead Eyes Of London Mad Executioners Monster Of London City Inn On The River |
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