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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Sick Product of a Sick System

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Yes it is certainly nothing new that these German Edgar Wallace movies from the 1960s and 1970s always include a fair dose of humor and this one here takes it to the next level. Some of the supporting characters are written in such a way that it almost has a Theo Lingen touch of comedy and I am not only talking about the very final scene here of course. The sound effects are very much over the top as are the ways in which people theatrically die and occasionally they even make fun of the dramatic music. And honestly, I have to say that I think all this is pretty positive. But this is not because it adds a whole lot to the film, but because the dramatic and crime action in here is fairly uninteresting. The hunchback mentioned in the title is really just a minor character looking at how he does not have a lot of screen time. The real antagonist for almost the entire film is a Kevin Spacey lookalike. And back to the hunchback, his costume looks also pretty bad, although this may have been even intended in the sense of comedy once again as well. Director is Alfred Vohrer and he made several other Edgar Wallace films, not just this one from 50 years ago. The cast has not too many big names this time compared to other films from the series that have sometimes 3 or more actors that are still known today here in Germany. All in all, I give "Der Bucklige von Soho" a thumbs-down. I was not impressed by it, apart from some weirdly funny moments occasionally. Also the James Bond references feel very much off the mark if not copied uninterestingly.

To be honest these Edgar Wallace Krimi's can vacillate between grand amusement and leaden tedium;fortuitously this particularly zesty offering is directed by the highly skillful Alfred Vohrer who, as always, keeps the pace at delirious speeds. Plot is standard Wallace fare: a bizarre individual is killing young women and a considerable inheritance is involved. But the real kicker here is the truly astonishing and uber funky burlesque score by Peter Thomas. (I do think an appraisal of his work for film TV is well overdue) 'The Hunchback of Soho' is a kitsch blast from start to finish, and it might be my new fave Krimi! Alfred Vohrer I salute you!

By 1966 the German series of Edgar Wallace films was running out of steam. There were preciously few new ideas ("make it in colour" isn't enough), so we have the usual good vs. evil battle, with some damsels in distress thrown in for good measure. An unusual twist, for the followers of the series, is that some of the regular comic-relief actors (Arent, Windeck, v. Meyerinck) are this time on the sinister side of things. This didn't work very well though - they make thoroughly unconvincing villains.