The Racetrack Murders Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Racetrack Murders Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 21, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Eureka! Entertainment's Terror in the Fog: Wallace Krimi at CCC collection.

Eureka recently released Mabuse Lives!, a really fun box set featuring six early to mid-sixties efforts that reintroduced the enigmatic title character to global audiences, including the first film in the series which offered a "return visit" from "founding Mabuse director" Fritz Lang. A number of the supplements on that set allude to some of the films in this set, since both the Dr. Mabuse productions and these so-called Wallace Krimi films were the brainchild of one Artur (also spelled as Arthur) Brauner, a German impresario who founded Central Cinema Company (CCC) in 1946 as his nation was in the throes of recovering from the disasters of World War II. Brauner was an absolutely fascinating man as is evidenced not just by his studio's output, but also his own personal history, a lot of which is discussed in passing by his energetic daughter Alice, who is featured in interviews included both in the Mabuse Lives! set and this one as well. One of Brauner's early producing "revelations" was that while, yes, he could produce "message" films that were important to him, he needed to fund those efforts with other less portentous offerings that would appeal to a broader demographic. Therefore, as Alice mentions, while his earlier career had a number of rather interesting and distinctive films that may not have had mass market appeal, Brauner actually had to wait until after series like the Mabuse and Wallace Krimi franchises raked in enough dough for him to really concentrate on films about a central focus of his, the effects of the Holocaust on European Jews. And in fact part of Brauner's entrepreneurial spirit was keeping track of other studios' successes, perhaps none more so than more or less direct competitor Rialto Film. When Rialto had huge hits with their line of Edgar Wallace krimi films, Brauner rather smartly if perhaps just a bit deceitfully entered into a deal with Edgar's son Bryan Edgar Wallace for the rights to that Wallace's writing, but probably more importantly, to that Wallace's name, which then allowed Brauner to market films with a supposed Wallace imprimatur that quite frequently had next to nothing (and in some cases, absolutely nothing) to do with Wallace.

It's hard to watch 1964's The Racetrack Murders and not think that the previous year's Miss Marple outing, Murder at the Gallop, might have played at least a part in encouraging the production of this film. Much as with that enterprise there's, well, Murder Most Foul in an equine setting, though it might be argued that the first killing at least in this film is a good deal more gonzo than even anything Agatha Christie could have devised. For reasons which are not immediately apparent, a couple of bad guys (you can tell because they're lit from below) throw a snake at an approaching horse, spooking it, which in turns send the jockey flying off to his demise. Much as with a Christie mystery, though, it takes a second killing before an intrepid inspector named Bradley (Heinz Engelmann) gets involved. And also quite like the Rutherford Marples in particular, there's a pronounced comedic element at play here, despite the supposedly nefarious machinations of various characters. The actual mystery isn't, so to speak, since you get a pretty obvious giveaway of at least part of the villainous shenanigans from the get go (somewhat hilariously, while this film like others in this set follows a "dual plotline" trajectory, in this case there's a quasi-Mabuse character involved). This is yet another offering that frankly may not pass the "PC test" in terms of at least one of its ethnic depictions.

The Racetrack Murders Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Racetrack Murders is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1, with the series kind of inexplicably (even according to some of the supplements) reverting back to quasi-Academy ratio, perhaps due in part to presumed future television broadcasts. This is another really nicely detailed transfer a lot of the time, especially in some of the fun extreme close-ups (see screenshot 2). There can be just a slightly cartoonish look at times due to some of the lighting choices (as in those aforementioned low lights illuminating villainous faces), but contrast is generally solid, with nice blacks and well modulated gray scale. Once again very minor signs of age related wear and tear can be spotted. Grain resolves without any issues.

The Racetrack Murders Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Racetrack Murders features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in either German and English. As has been the case throughout most of the offerings in this set, the German track is noticeably louder, and in this case I'd also argue noticeably more full bodied throughout all ranges. The English track can show some brief low frequency "humming" damage in passing. That said, both tracks offer more than listenable support for dialogue, scoring and effects. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Racetrack Murders Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Tim Lucas (HD; 7:42) is available as a standalone supplement or under the Play Menu where it is authored to lead directly to the main feature.


• Audio Commentary by Kevin Lyons & Jonathan Rigby


• Terror in the Fog (HD; 1:33:25) is an alternate audio commentary of sorts between Tim Lucas and Stephen Bissette that plays to the film. This ostensibly addresses contextual issues like what was happening in mystery films generally during this era, but it's really a rather wide ranging discussion that should appeal to fans.


• The Seventh Victim German Trailer for The Racetrack Murders (HD; 3:16) offer the film's alternate title, which is discussed in passing in some of the supplements.

The Racetrack Murders Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While you can certainly feel this series winding down with this late offering, there's still a kind of lunatic ambience and some surprisingly stylish flourishes throughout. This may not have the most compelling mystery of the bunch, but the setting is a lot of fun, and performances are quite winning. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements appealing. Recommended.