| KRIMI #6 DEAD EYES OF LONDON(1961) |
| It is a dank foggy London night.A man tries to make his way through the fog.He is seized by a blind hulking monster.He is carried off into the fog and deposited in the back of a delivery truck. Inspector Larry Holt arrives at the morgue.He is presented with the body of the unfortunate man, a drowning victim.Holt finds a small piece of rope on the body along with a message in Braille.This isn't the first but only one in a series of "accidental" drownings of wealthy single men with no families. Nora Ward is a Braille expert hired by Scotland Yard to assist Holt.She deciphers the message which has the words, Crime,Murder and Blind Men. Holt feels it is the work of the Blind Killers Of London.They are a gang of peddlers lead by the vicious Blind Jack. At Greenwich Insurance, Stephan Judd is being blackmailed by a rodent looking man named Fred and his girlfriend Fanny.It seems that Judd's late brother was something of a ladies' man before his death and was involved in a scandal.Judd pays Fred but Fred wants more and pulls a knife.Holt arrives to talk to Judd and runs Fred off.It turns out the deceased man was insured by Judd's company.Judd admits he is on the edge of financial ruin with these deaths. Holt follows Fred to a gambling club.He asks Fred about Blind Jack which in turn scares Fred off.Fanny makes a play for Holt but he brushes her off.Fred is almost killed by a delivery truck. Holt traces Blind Jack to his last known address.It is a home for the blind run by Reverend Dearborn.Dearborn tells Holt & Nora that he "ran the criminal element off" when he took over.After they leave Holt discovers a message in Braille planted in his coat.The message states that there is a gang of blind killers led by Blind Jack.But the Reverend knows nothing of it.Holt persuades Nora to go to work at Dearborn's asylum. Franny blackmails Judd with info about his brother.Reluctantly he pays her a sum as well. Wealthy Gordon Stuart arrives in London.He goes to Judd for a policy. He tells Judd he just discovered he has an illegitimate daughter and names her as beneficiary.Staurt then checks into a rooming house. Stuart is in the rooming house that night.As he goes to brush his teeth Blind Jack creeps in.We get some great POV shots from the inside of Stuart's mouth as he waterpiks his teeth.Blind Jack crushes the lightbulbs in the room with his bare hands.He attacks Stuart and carries him off. Franny is strangled by persons unknown.Holt arrives to question her as Judd filed charges against her.He finds Judd's assistant Strauss outside her door. In the basement of the blind asylum Blind Jack works on some machinery.With an unwilling accomplice he ties a block of salt to Staurt's body.The other man slips a note onto Staurt's body.The body is tossed down a chute which empties into the Thames.Staurt's body is soon found face down in the river by a beat cop. Holt desperately searches for Stuart's daughter.Did she die in childbirth or is she alive?If so, who is she? Fred arranges to meet with Judd as he & Strauss figure Judd killed Franny. Fred goes to Judd's office but he isn't there yet.He tries the elevator and falls to his death in the empty shaft (with a little help). Nora returns to her apartment.In the stairwell the lights are out;crushed and lying in pieces.She is attacked by hulking Blind Jack.Her screams bring Holt back into the building.Jack gets away in a delivery truck. Holt stops in to see Judd.Judd tells him that Stuart's policy had just been paid out to his heir.Holt states that is impossible and has to be a fake.The address given as the heir's residence is actually Holt's! Blind Jack takes a final ride in the delivery truck.He pleads for his life.The unseen driver is upset that the attempt on Nora failed.He pulls a gun on Jack and holds it inches from Jack's unseeing eyes.He pulls the trigger five times.Jack is unceremoniously dumped in a garbage dump. Nora's aunt is kidnapped in an attempt to coerce Nora.Holt barely rescues her from a flaming death. Holt talks to Nora's aunt and learns some interesting things about the girl's background. Holt goes to Judd's ofice and is nearly killed by a booby trap set up by Strauss.Holt overcomes Strauss but is coldcocked.Strauss is pushed out the window to his death. Nora goes to the asylum for the blind and is menaced by the real killers. Who is Gordon Stuart's heir?How does the home for the blind tie in?What was the secret of Judd's dead brother?Are Nora and Holt going to meet the same fate of those crossed by the Dead Eyes Of London? This is a very atmospheric entry in the series.There is a lot of fog and some real gritty locations.The pacing is smooth and we really never are ahead of Holt in what is revealed.Some of the POV shots are quite stunning and ahead of their time.Ady Berber as Blind Jack looks like an advertisement for the evils of excessive masturbation, blind and werewolf hairy.See it! |
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