"Das Phantom von Soho or "The Phantom of Soho" is a West German 90-minute film from 1964, so this one is already over 50 years old. The director is Franz Josef Gottlieb and the writer is Ladislas Fodor and these two were pretty prolific and successful back then. Their work on this film and also the cast are probably the main reason why this is a German-language film in the original (according to IMDb), but these days it may be easier to find the English-language dub than the original. I also watched the dub. The cast includes a handful of actors that were pretty successful back in the day, even if they are almost forgotten now. These would be Dieter Borsche, Barbara Rütting, Werner Peters, Hans Söhnker and others. You probably also find some of the cast members in other Edgar Wallace film as it was pretty rare they they just appeared in one of these. So now I already said that this 1.5-hour film from over half a century ago is based on an Edgar Wallace novel (Soho is mentioned not only in this title here) and these films were really popular back then and if you look for movies defining German cinema back in the 1960s, you will quickly meet Mr. Wallace for sure because of the quantity of films that exist, sadly not really because of the quality. This black-and-white movie here is another example of this. It has relatively little scare factor and humor compared to the other films, but it's a pretty grim little tale about a serial killer being out there and the cops try to figure out for what reason (s)he chooses his/her victims. All in all, a fairly forgettable watch. I did not find the story really that interesting and I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

'Das Phantom Von Soho' is a supremely pacy, atmospheric, and surprisingly grisly Krimi from the lurid pen of Bryan Edgar Wallace. The burlesque jazz sounds of Martin Bottcher are utterly sublime and not only are the performances uniformly excellent, the brutal stabbings have a decidedly proto-gialli feel. 'Das Phantom Von Soho' is an absolute must for rampant Krimi-headz, and while the overt camp-ness is considerably muted, the grisly, sordid atmosphere, thankfully isn't. This grungy little Edgar Wallace thriller was a real corker, and one of the rare Krimi's that I would happily watch again! And I most heartily approve of the lead actresses's spicy moniker: Barbara Rutting! "Oh, I say!" (Most appropriate for one so lithe!)

The Phantom of Soho is another Krimi film based on a novel by the son of the great Edgar Wallace, Bryan Edgar Wallace. I can't say it's one of the best of the genre, but it features a decent plot that flows fairly well and kept my interest for most of the duration. As the title suggests; the film once again takes place in London and this allows director Franz Josef Gottlieb to build a dark and foreboding atmosphere to compliment his plot which chiefly involves murder. The plot focuses on a murder named 'The Phantom' who is going round London bumping various people off. The victims are all important men and seem to have something to do with Sansibar; a seedy nightclub owned by a crippled woman. Naturally it's not long before Scotland Yard is called in to investigate and they receive help from a mystery writer who is fascinated by the crimes. As they dig deeper into the murders, they find out that many of the victims have more in common than was first thought.Naturally the film is not particularly graphic; but the murder scenes are rather memorable thanks to the way they are shown - usually we see the victim looking surprised while a pair of gloved hands (one holding a knife) is shown on either side of the screen. This is amusing the first time it's seen and while it does at least make the film somewhat memorable; I have to say that it does lack variety. The plot is more than a little bit sketchy and the film only really features memorable scenes, rather than a memorable narrative. The nightclub setting is good as it allows the director to show plenty of half naked women along with a sordid atmosphere. The film gets less interesting as it goes along and by the end I didn't really care too much about the mystery behind the murders, and that's a bit of a shame as there's a decent enough plot here to spawn a good thriller. The ending is something of a surprise, however, so anyone that makes it that far at least shouldn't be too disappointed. Overall, this is a Krimi worth seeing for genre fans; but it won't hold much interest for anyone else.

A very good mystery directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb and written by Bryan Egar Wallace. Dark and a little creepy. Not exactly predictable. Interest builds like a fever. Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Patton(Dieter Borsche)investigates the murders of several high-profile citizens of London. An attractive mystery writer Clarinda Smith(Barbara Rutting)asks to assist in the investigation to get material for her new book. She promises Patton that the mystery will be solved and the murderer revealed on the final page of her book. All victims just happen to frequent a Soho nightclub and lured to a neighboring hotel by a pretty photographer. The men are murdered by a gloved and masked killer with a magician's knife. Also in the cast: Hans Sohnker, Peter Vogel, Elisabeth Flickenschildt and Wemer Peters.