Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Creature with the Blue Hand Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 14, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Creature with the Blue Hand set from Film Masters.

Film Masters has been carving out a little niche for itself with cult offerings that the label has often brought out in "double feature" form, with two films per release. They're upping the ante with this release, which offers three films with perhaps seemingly somewhat tenuous but still definable connective tissues. Collectors of previous niche Blu-ray releases may have some with the venerable Sam Sherman on hand in some supplements, and the B- movie entrepreneur is back here both on supplements and in his executive role as part of Independent International Pictures, whose masthead adorns all three films in this set. Sherman offers a commentary track on The Bloody Dead, which is offered in this set as a supplement, and which is actually a rejiggered version by Sherman of this set's "main" feature, Creature with the Blue Hand, which has a memorable starring performance (actually performances, since he plays twins) by Klaus Kinski. Kinski is also featured as none other than Edgar Allan Poe in the advertised "second feature" of this set, Web of the Spider, which is itself a remake of the well remembered Castle of Blood.

While commentators Kim Newman and Stephen Jones probably understandably concentrate on this production as one of the innumerable so-called "Rialto Krimi" films (something that's also addressed in this disc's supplement about this particular "series" of adaptations), I couldn't help but think of a little remembered 1941 proto-noir called Among the Living, since that film also had a conceit wherein a set of twins includes one ostensibly upright sibling and another ostensibly lunatic one. In this formulation, Klaus Kinski is both Dave, consigned to an insane asylum as the film starts (but soon granted a rather mysterious reprieve courtesy of a key which is delivered to him to help him escape), and Richard, who lives in the family's baronial estate with a number of other relatives, including matriarch Lady Emerson (Ilse Steppat).

The film kind of oddly dispenses with Richard to let Dave assume Richard's place, a subterfuge which is quickly uncovered by family butler Anthony (Albert Bessler). Perhaps fortunately for Dave, at least until he becomes a suspect, is the fact that there is enough mayhem brewing at the Emerson family manse, including an accruing body count, to keep people distracted. This entire outing virtually revels in being gonzo, and even in dubbed form, Kinski is a sight to behold with performances filled to the brim with his hyperbolic expressions and other tics. The "mystery" here is a little disjointed and maybe even nonsensical, something that may be due in part to the fact that this English language version was redacted from a longer German running time.

Creature with the Blue Hand Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Creature with the Blue Hand is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Masters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. As usual, Film Masters doesn't provide a whale of a lot of technical information about this transfer, offering only a generic "scanned in 4K from 35mm archival elements" on the front cover. Exactly what archival elements were utilized isn't specified, but one way or the other, while certainly watchable and heads and shoulders above what may have actually been a bootleg version of this I viewed years (decades?) ago, there are variabilities throughout, especially in terms of color timing. That "blue hand" in the title may subliminally reinforce a somewhat blue or even blue-green hue that pervades several scenes, notably the early moments with Dave in his cell (see screenshot 9). Other moments can veer more obviously toward green or yellow- green (see screenshot 2). That said, there are long swaths of this presentation where the timing looks more natural, if never completely where it maybe "should" be. Detail levels are reasonable, and actually frequently pretty commendable in close-ups. Contrast is another variable issue, and some of the darkest material while also offering kind of blue or purplish blacks, don't deliver much in the way of shadow detail. Grain is on the mottled side, but at least is there and indicates no furious digital scrubbing has been employed.

Creature with the Blue Hand Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Creature with the Blue Hand features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. The dubbing here is probably going to strike many as substandard, but aside from that issue the track is noticeably boxy and without a ton of dynamic range. There's still adequate support for scoring and effects, and dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Creature with the Blue Hand Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman is another fun and informative discussion with this pair. As usual, and again commendably, Film Masters offers separate subtitles for the commentary for those who might need them.


• A Man of Mystery: Inside the World of Edgar Wallace (HD; 13:34) is an interesting overview of the work of this writer who may be most widely remembered on this side of the pond for King Kong.


• Kinski Krimis: Inside the Rialto Film Adaptations (HD; 17:42) offers C. Courtney Joyner discussing this series which was huge in Germany, but which never received a ton of attention in the United States.


• Original 1967 Trailer for Creature with the Blue Hand (HD; 1:49)


• Re-created Trailer for Creature with the Blue Hand (HD; 1:48)


• The Bloody Dead Bonus Film (HD; 1:20:13) is basically Creature with the Blue Hand with some added gore inserts.


• The Bloody Dead with Archival Commentary featuring Sam Sherman


• The Bloody Dead Raw Footage and Behind the Scenes (HD; 9:21) offers the inserted gore material separately (with the optical soundtrack going down the side!).

Creature with the Blue Hand Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Krimi series certainly deserves more attention from Blu-ray labels, and there is certainly no dearth of material to offer interested consumers in that regard. Creature with the Blue Hand came toward the middle of the Rialto Krimis, and it finds Klaus Kinski in fine form(s), with a completely gonzo cast of supporting characters surrounding him. Technical merits are okay, though my hunch is many will find the color timing here to be a little odd looking. The supplements, including the "gored up" remake, are very interesting. With caveats noted, Recommended.