Cave of the Living Dead

Six mysterious deaths of women aged between 18 and 22 years occur over the course of six months in a small, European village. Inspector Frank Dorin (Hoven) is sent to investigate. Thought by some to be murders, Dorin is informed by the village doctor (Mohner) that all of the deaths were natural. It seems that each seemingly healthy young woman died of heart failure. Many local residents believe vampires are responsible. A seventh death occurs in the inn in which Inspector Dorin is staying the first night he is in the village. Legend has it that two hundred years ago, a curse forced the vampires to take up residence in a well known grotto in the area. They are said to emerge at midnight every night, but can remain at large for only one hour minus one minute. Inspector Dorin must determine the true cause of the series of deaths before they become a public scandal and before more people perish. In many ways, this is a fairly traditional vampire film with a bit of humor tossed in. Fans of the genre should probably give this one a chance. It was filmed in black and white which many will find adds to its atmosphere. Actor Adrian Hoven who played the inspector is better known for his part in the making of "Mark of the Devil" (1970).

The greatest films ever made mostly hail from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and the silent era, with some outliers from more recent years. This is not one of those. Meanwhile, though there are plentiful exceptions, genre fare in the 50s is commonly known for subpar schlock more than earnest film-making and storytelling, and cinema only started to crawl out of that rut in the 60s. I'm certainly not saying that 'Der Fluch der grünen Augen,' also known as 'Cave of the living dead,' also known as 'Night of the vampires,' is as bad as 'Attack of the giant leeches,' but it falls well short of being an exemplar, too. For all the good horror and sci-fi to be claimed among mid-century fare, this flick roundly fails to make much of an impression at all. Could you do worse? Yes. Is there actually any need to watch this? No.

The filming locations are gorgeous. The production design and art direction range from commendable to fantastic, and likewise the costume design, hair, and makeup. Those stunts and effects that are employed, though not necessarily anything remarkable, are mostly quite good. Generally speaking this was beautifully shot, a credit to both filmmaker Ákos Ráthonyi and cinematographer Hrvoje Saric. The story is flush with ideas ripe for genre storytelling, fitting right in with more famous features that play in similar spaces. All this is well and good. Yet the writing is highly variable, at first feeling decidedly forthright, then gawky and scattered, then slothful. The plot does solidify and become more specifically engaging over time, but in a runtime of under ninety minutes, that irregularity is unfortunate, and the greater strength takes all too long to manifest - with the less favorable traits never going away., and continuing to rise and recede. For as nice as the visuals may be, Ráthonyi's direction is less sure-footed when it comes to bringing the screenplay to fruition, very much echoing the writing in its uneven thrust, with a curiously indistinct, flat tone further mucking up the proceedings. The acting sadly follows in kind, varying from "okay, sure" to "pretty good."

There are far worse ways to spend your time. However, that the most appreciable facets here have to do with the excellent craftsmanship, and not the storytelling, says all one needs to know about the movie. I'm glad for those who get more out of it than I do. I don't dislike this, and I don't regret spending my time here - but I won't spend one minute thinking about 'Cave of the living dead' hereafter.

After six deaths in as many months an Interpol agent by the name of "Inspector Frank Dorin" (Adrian Hoven) is sent to a remote village somewhere in Eastern Europe to investigate. When he gets there he finds that all six deaths were to women between the ages of 18 to 22 and that when they occurred all of the electricity had also gone out for an hour or so. To make matters even worse, the attractive hotel maid by the name of "Maria" (Erika Remberg) is killed that very night in the room next to him and Inspector Dorin is immediately suspected of her murder. Coincidentally, six months earlier, a reclusive scientist named "Professor von Adelsberg" (Wolfgang Preiss) has moved into a nearby castle and--along with the help of his pretty assistant "Karin Schumann" (Karin Field)--is conducting experiments which he insists must be kept secret for the time being. Now, although I wasn't honestly expecting too much from this movie, I must admit that it had a decent amount of mystery to keep my interest for the most part. Likewise, although it is filmed in black-and-white, the director (Akos Rathonyi) took full advantage of it by using shadows and other techniques to create a dark atmosphere. On the flip side, however, the story itself had a couple of unexplained issues and the script was especially bland. I should note, however, that the film I saw was dubbed from German to English and this could possibly explain the rather basic dialogue. Be that as it may, although this was certainly not a great horror film by any means, it managed to pass the time fairly well and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Six women were probably murdered in a lonely village. Inspector Dorin (Adrian Hoven) arrives and finds that the local people suspect vampires. He laughs at that superstitious nonsense and starts his investigations just when the seventh murder happens - next door to his bedroom. He is invited to the castle of Professor Adelsberg (Wolfgang Preiss) who seems to hide something...

'The Curse of the Green Eyes' aka 'Cave of the Living Dead' or 'Night of the Vampires' is a black & white production from the 1960s. Beginning with the Karl May western movies, there was a growing number of co-productions between West Germany and Yugoslavia at the time. With a handful of known German actors on the list including the excellent Carl Möhner as the dubious doctor, plus great locations, a result is achieved which is superior to many other B movies, also in acting and camera work.

Good story and characters, snappy dialogue, suspense. A few goofs that added nothing to the story, but on the whole, a solid good time for anyone who likes a good old-fashioned vampire movie. Recommended!