THE
PHANTOM OF SOHO (1964)
Directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb
Alpha DVD
Reviewed 08.08.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Ugh, what is this stuff? It’s
hard to wade through, like each
step is immersed in dirty peanut
butter. And it kind of smells too...?
Funny, but as this glurp thickens,
I seem to like it more and more.
Let me think a minute. By george,
I’ve got it! What we have
here is a RIVER OF SLEAZE!
Before you get all hot and bothered,
I’d like to point out that
this is the good kind of sleaze,
at least by my standards. As we
all know, low budget sleaze can
come in all shapes and sizes --
gore, nudity, despicable characters,
etc. When piled on, it can get downright
boring. Presented with restraint,
the sleaze factor in a film can
be thoroughly sensational. The
Phantom Of Soho, another
film in the German “krimi”
genre, gets it right. Alas, that’s
the only blue ribbon I can bring
myself to award this day.
In a dirty old section of Soho,
a strip club and fleabag hotel operate
in conjunction. The light beats
of congas, marimbas, and sax riffs
filter through the thick breeze
of lady night-workers and their
prey. The streets throb with sex
fiends and the blackest of lingerie.
But what’s this?! A silver-sparkle-gloved
maniac is tearing up the neighborhood
with knife murders and a peculiar
calling card involving money. True
to krimi form, hundreds of characters
are introduced, several murders
occur, and three or four sub-plots
ramble on simultaneously. It’s
up to ol’ Inspector Patton,
along with a perky crime novelist
and the rest of Scotland Yard (3
or 4 cops), to solve the murders
and restore normalcy to the strip
clubs! Will the ending tie everything
together or come across as completely
underwhelming? You be the judge.
Highly contorted and sometimes dull,
Phantom builds up
a wonderful 92 minute girth of atmospheric
sleaze (dirty old men, plenty of
cheesecake, brief nudity), but unfortunately
falls short as a whole. Instead
of building suspense, the murders
are set up like dominos, each one
shot identically (murderer’s
point-of-view, arms outstretched),
making for a repetitive bore by
the third or fourth time around.
Like the similarly problematic Dead
Eyes Of London, there were
so many characters and plot-lines
flailing about that I had a hard
time choosing one to follow. In
the end, I kind of zoned out, admiring
some of the clever shots and slinky
club scenes, but having a hard time
forcing an interest in the story.
Strictly krimi by the numbers.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Phantom is presented
in a slightly-side cropped widescreen
print. Unfortunately, the quality
lies toward the lower rung of Alpha
transfers. Intrusive jump cuts are
frequent, slight ghosting occurs,
white emulsion lines run throughout,
and the picture isn’t too
crisp. The mono sound was a little
on the muffled side, but fared better
than the picture.
EXTRAS
In addition to the usual Alpha cover
gallery, there’s a rough looking
trailer that runs a little over
a minute. It cuts to black abruptly.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As much as I was enticed by the
plot and my previous krimi adventures,
The Phantom Of Soho wasn’t too hot. Genre completists
will want it for the cheap price,
but check out The Strangler
Of Blackmoor Castle for a
more engaging krimi slice. |
Zestfully clean
My dear fellow, you've had it
Nightclub knifers
|
