The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle 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.

In a way, perhaps The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle is a better place to begin one's journey through Terror in the Fog, since it is indeed (ostensibly) based on an actual Bryan Edgar Wallace book, but it is also offers a bit more of a shrouded Gothic ambience than The Curse of the Yellow Snake. It may be just slightly hilarious that the frequently "colonially" minded Germans, who after all weren't especially shy about "reaching out and touching" (and/or conquering) other nations, offer depictions of British types in the first two films in this set who have a certain "colonial" sensibility themselves, an aspect which may frankly not sit well with more modern minded types. In The Curse of the Yellow Snake a whole kind of smarmy subtext involving "Evil Asians" permeated the story, while here there's at least an allusion to England having "conquered" various parts of Africa. That may actually be at least a bit of a red herring, as the story follows Lucius Clark (Rudolf Fernau), an upper crust British sort about to be knighted for his work on "the Dark Continent", only to be accosted by a masked assailant who accuses him of a long ago crime and who is seeking vengeance. There's a cache of diamonds at play (something else the assailant is seeking), and kind of humorously (given CCC's relationship with Fritz Lang), at least an allusion (and, really, more than that) to M in a series of grisly murders.

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. There's almost a "Universal Horror" look to certain scenes in this film (see screenshot 3), and this transfer's generally excellent contrast really helps to support the spooky mood. Close-ups can reveal quite commendable levels of fine detail on admittedly picayune items like fur on women's clothing and the like. As with many of the other films in this set, some very minor age related wear and tear can be spotted. Grain resolves without any issues.

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in either German or English. As with some of the other films in this set, the English track is noticeably softer and at least a bit less vibrant than the German track, though both certainly offer decent support for everything in the sound design. There's less hiss on these tracks than The Curse of the Yellow Snake. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and there are optional English subtitles available.

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Eureka! has packaged The Curse of the Yellow Snake and The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle together on one disc with the following supplements:

• What is a Krimi? (HD; 5:51) is an excellent and informative introduction to the set.


• The Curse of the Yellow Snake

Introduction by Tim Lucas (HD; 12:26) 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 Kim Newman & Barry Forshaw




Trailer (HD; 3:12)

• The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle

Introduction by Tim Lucas (HD; 10:05) 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

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle is rather stylish at times (parse through some of the screenshots and note the framings), and the story, while kind of hilariously full of odd little detours, is kind of fun as well. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.