Im Banne des Unheimlichen

Im Banne des Unheimlichen (lit. Under the Spell of the Sinister; English title The Zombie Walks, aka The Hand of Power) is a 1968 West German crime film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Joachim Fuchsberger and Siw Mattson.^[1] It is part of a series of German screen adaptations of Edgar Wallace's thriller novels.

Plot

Scotland Yard's Inspector Higgins (Joachim Fuchsberger) becomes involved in a case that began with the corpse of Sir Oliver supposedly laughing from inside of his own coffin during his funeral. Soon people who were close to Sir Oliver start to get killed. Sir Oliver's brother Sir Cecil swears he saw his dead brother jaunting around the countryside in a skeleton costume. Higgins teams up with reporter Peggy Brand (Siw Mattson) and his bumbling chief Sir Arthur (Hubert von Meyerinck) to unmask the villain who is killing people with a poisoned scorpion ring.

Cast

• Joachim Fuchsberger as Inspektor Higgins
• Siw Mattson as Peggy Ward
• Wolfgang Kieling as Sir Cecil
• Hubert von Meyerinck as Sir Arthur
• Pinkas Braun as The Stranger
• Claude Farell as Adela
• Peter Mosbacher as Ramiro
• Siegfried Rauch as Dr. Brand
• Otto Stern as Mr. Merryl
• Renate Grosser as Mrs. Potter
• Hans Krull as Mr. Potter
• Lillemor Lindfors as Sabrina
• Ewa Strömberg as Librarian
• Ilse Pagé as Miss Finley
• Edith Schneider as Professor Bound
• Wolfgang Spier as Bannister
• Jimmy Powell as Casper

Production

The screenplay for the film is based on the novel The Hand of Power by Edgar Wallace.^[2]

Reception

The FSK gave the film a rating of "16 and up" and found it not appropriate for screenings on public holidays. The film premiered at the "Europa" cinema at Oberhausen on 26 April 1968.^[2]

References

External links

• Im Banne des Unheimlichen at the Internet Movie Database