The Curse of the Yellow Snake (1963)

the audience applauded

Just perfect...

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

"Der Fluch der gelben Schlange" or "The Curse of the Yellow Snake" is a West German black-and-white film from the 1960s. There were German films from around that era that had color already, but the early films of the Edgar Wallace trilogy do not. This one here will have its 55th anniversary soon. Ateasily over 90 minutes, it is longer than most of the Wallace films from back then. The writer and director is Austrian Franz Josef Gottlieb and he adapted several other Wallace works for the screen in the 1960s. This period was probably also the most successful and most defining of his career, even if he was still pretty young at this point, namely in his 30s. He went on to make many many more films, some of which are still known today as they are from the time when Karl May, soft-core and trash movies were very successful. But back to this film here: We have an animal in the title, a color and something that sounds like danger and with all these components, the title is the epitome of an Edgar Wallace film title, even if this film is far from the most famous Edgar Wallace films as we perceive them today. On the contrary, you rarely find one here on IMDb with a lower rating than 5. And I can understand why. Then again, I am generally not the greatest fan of this era of German crime movies. The known names (mostly Fuchsberger of course) attached to this project cannot elevate the very mediocre (sometimes even weak) material. It is not a racist film, but not a good one either. I give it a thumbs-down.

I remember this film well, though I saw it a long time ago. I was interested in seeing the film because in Leonard Maltin's film book he said it was something like 3 out of 4 stars, maybe even 3.5.Well after seeing the film, I wonder if Mr. Maltin actually sees the films that he gives recommendations for. He said it was atmospheric, and the beginning of the film does start out promisingly.However, that is that. The film really plods boringly along. First you have a European actor playing a Chinese villain in one of the most horrible makeup jobs you could ever see. It is absolutely revolting.They try to add humor to the film. Perhaps something was lost in the English translation. Watching it was not fun, and did not elicit any laughter. It was in fact embarrassing to look at.Some of the other Edgar Wallace films are not to bad. But do yourself a favor, and make sure you skip this one. Shame on you Leonard Maltin.

Story of a cursed jeweled snake that when has the potential to make the possessor invincible. The snake is hidden in a burial crypt in a pagoda in Hong Kong. When thieves try to steal it, killing someone in the process, the owner knows that a great evil is in the land. Sending his son to London to marry, despite his protest of wanting to stay and find the men behind the attack, the battle for the snake heats up. In London the son meets his half brother, a rich man who is half Chinese, who has designs on the snake. The battle between the brothers becomes a struggle for control of the world. This is a yellow peril story that is more akin to a Fu Manchu story then the mysteries that are the norm in the Edgar Wallace series. Actually it isn't surprising since Wallace was the man who came up with the story for King Kong, so a tale of high adventure is right up his alley. This is a very good little film, not just because it breaks with the conventions of the rest of series, nor just because it's a ripping yarn, but the film is unique in that while all of the characters are likable, most of them are not wholly nice. Our hero is roguish and almost rakish, his father is willful and clearly possessing a past of darkness, his brother is charming as well as villainous, the heroine is at times almost mousy, her sister a bit too self centered, and the girls' father is a shady business man who will do anything to keep himself afloat including offering up the girls. No one is spotless, except perhaps for the hero's antique loving friend. It's an interesting group of people and it makes the film have a great sense that anything can happen at any time. More than worth a bowl of popcorn and a soda.

This is another Edgar Wallace based krimi produced by the Germans in the early 1960's. While I am a fan of this series this movie is probably the worst of the lot that I have seen up to this point.This is even worse than The Indian Scarf(see my review of that one).This should have been titled "Curse Of The Boring Movie".The plot deals with a fanatical cult of Chinese bent on world domination.They believe that a yellow snake charm has the "power" to give the possessor the ability to win any fight they start according to Chinese legend.Of course the intrepid white folks are shaking in their boots at the thought of world peace being threatened. But the cult looks like it only had about 100 members so there are some heavy logistics to work out on the ability to wreck world peace.The usual stable of German actors are in this film. As usual the comic relief is played by Eddie Arent and you wish he would have gotten a dagger in the back.The comic touches in this series are heavy handed and irritating.The hero isn't really a guy you would like.In fact I didn't care about any of the characters.There is a nice use of fog and dank atmosphere.But it doesn't help much. The source material may have been weak for this one. Either way, skip this cursed movie.