The College Girl Murders

One of the earlier color entries in the lengthy series of German thrillers adapted from Edgar Wallace novels, this particularly lurid and enjoyable entry revisits one of the cycle's more memorable characters, a whip-wielding hooded monk (who also appeared in 1965's The Sinister Monk). This time the monk (now clad head to toe in red) first murders a corrupt scientist, who attempts to sell off a deadly new poison but gets garroted for his trouble. Soon a nearby school is plagued by shocking murders, with poisonous gas (shot from unlikely sources including a Bible!) and the neck-cracking whip popping up whenever a young girl wanders off by herself. Ah, and a superhero-style gun that shoots cobwebs figures in the plot, too. Only intrepid Inspector Higgins (series regular Joachim Fuchsberger) stands a chance of stopping this evildoer, whose deeds are dictated by an unseen arch-villain lurking nearby in a room filled with aquariums. The suspects include a large roster of older men who seem to have a habit of dipping into the student body for some after-hours enjoyment, but in the end the culprit is unmasked after a tortuous explanation that chucks any semblance of reality out the window. Though the Wallace series started off as a string of atmospheric, monochromatic gothic melodramas, by this point (1967) the influence of the James Bond series and Italian horror films propelled these tales into far more outlandish territory, with villains engineering outrageously ridiculously means of homicide within hideouts that could never be constructed in real life. Fortunately no one takes any of it very seriously, with regular Wallace comic relief Siegfried Schürenberg doing his usual shtick as Sir John, an aspiring gumshoe whose limited knowledge just gums up the procedural works. Anyone who's crossed paths with a Wallace film obviously knows what to expect from the music – namely a wacko, psychedelic melange of funky arrangements and whopping vocals – and composer Martin Böttcher's work here is well up to snuff. Also shown as The Monk and the Whip (a literal translation of its German title, Der Monch mit der Peitsche), The College Girl Murders managed to startle more than its share of late night viewers but didn't get a fair shake on English-language home video until this DVD from Dark Sky (a subsidiary of MPI). The source print is colorful (a necessity to appreciating this film) and only mildly cropped from the 1.66:1 original framing, while the mono English dub track is suitably amusing (especially for German actors posing as Brits, but speaking with American voices). The only extra is an eight-picture photo gallery, putting this about on par with the (few) other Wallace releases on DVD outside Germany. DVD owners not constrained by region coding may also want to seek out the German Region 2 PAL disc from UFA, available separately or as part of the mouth-watering "Edgar Wallace Edition 7: 1967-1968" box set which also contains such goodies as The Hound of Blackwood Castle and the utterly stupefying Gorilla Gang. The stunning German transfer is anamorphically enhanced with the original correct framing and features both the original, more flattering German audio track (with optional English subtitles) or the English language track for comparison. Note that the English subtitles are really "dub-titles" directly translated from the same English dialogue, so there's really no difference in terms of story content between the two. The film's theatrical trailer is shifting over to the Gorilla Gang disc along with other Wallace previews. However, if that option is too rich for your taste (and considering the whole box will set you back upwards of $60), the American disc should suffice for most curious parties. For more information about College Girl Murders, visit Image Entertainment. To order College Girl Murders, go to TCM Shopping. by Nathaniel Thompson