In the early 1960s the CCC and Rialto companies in Germany made many sensationalist films based upon the dark crime writing of Edgar Wallace or his son, Bryan. These stories are full of murderous incident with horror overtones, full of mystery and suspense but delivering shocks too. In those days the stories would have been called "lurid" or "sordid" but these days these are films that deliver their purpose to entertain. Made to entice the viewer with incidents, murders and set pieces the films are now excellent nostallgic fun. Often in B&W they run like a counter part to Hammer's work but I imagine apart from the shocks and fast paced story telling they already looked quaint to a certain degree. Often set in London with dubbed English accents (but very well dubbed) and strong Production values with atmosphere and reasonable scripts, these are enjoyable as films not just as cheap spectactle.
This film has a mysterious group of black hooded self-appointed judges who try those evil people that escape true justice, inevtiably hanging them publicly for their misdeeds. This group uses rope from the Scotland Yard Black Museum and hangs the bodies publicly with a case book of guilt wrapped with the body. The story is related to the police investigation and who may be a member of this shadowy group. Thrown in later is a mad scientist who has been decapitating young women and using their bodies in experiements. If this sounds crazed fun then that is exactly what it is.
With a mixture of horror, shocks and mystery this film crosses many genres but will especially appeal to horror fans. It is geared towards this audience, paced and directed as a horror film made from crime elements. Whilst no classic it is most enjoyable, played straight without camp and seems huge fun after many more serious and tedious films. On the strength of this I would recommend investigating many more of these largely undiscovered gems from Germany. 8/10.
Special Thanks to Mark Coyle for this Movie Review.