Whispering Death - "The Whispering Death"
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Whispering Death - "The Whispering Death" The Whispering Death |
| Original title | Whispering Death - "The Whispering Death" The Whispering Death Whispering Death Albino |
| Country of production | Germany United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1976 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jürgen Goslar |
| script | Jürgen Goslar Scott Finch (only English verse) |
| production | Jürgen Goslar |
| music | Erich Ferstl |
| camera |
Wolfgang Treu Hartmut Zingel |
| cut |
Richard Meyer Karl Aulitzky |
| occupation | |
| |
Whispering Death - "The Whispering Death" , often under the short title The Whispering Death , is a German-British fictional film from 1975 by Jürgen Goslar starring James Faulkner , Christopher Lee , Trevor Howard and Horst Frank , heavily masked as "Whispering Death " in the leading roles. The story is based on the novel "The Whispering Death" by the Rhodesian writer David Carney (1944–1987), who himself once served in the British South Africa Police.
action
In Rhodesia , at the time of British colonial rule and racial segregation . The police officer Terick, who lives in the country, looks forward to the near end of his police career and looks forward to his future life, which he would like to spend on his own farm with his fiancée Sally. When Terick celebrates his farewell with his colleagues and is therefore not at home overnight, a number of black, terrorist guerrillas under the leadership of a mysterious black albino called "Whispering Death" band together and raid Terick's farm. While the mob is looting and pillaging, the genetically malformed leader rapes and then murders Sally. The returning Terick is stunned by the bloody deed committed by the terrorists and the trail of devastation they have left behind. Tormented by deep pain, Terick only seeks revenge. Hateful, he is now pursuing the black criminals with his farm labor group, led by the foreman Katchemu. Terick's men later learn that the “Whispering Death” guerrillas had a ritual meeting with numerous villagers the following night in order to further stir up against the white masters in the country. Terick plans to use this scheduled gathering for an ambush in order to eventually capture or kill the "Whispering Death". When someone from Terick's group opens fire prematurely, some of the innocent villagers are killed instead of the black killers. The "Whispering Death" and its people escape.
The Rhodesian colonial government is outraged by this incident and calls on Terick's former boss Bill to pursue this case with the utmost severity and to bring his former subordinates to account. It is found that Terick, through his vigilante action, scourged as “irresponsible”, torpedoed the efforts of the Rhodesian apartheid government to conclude a truce between the state security forces and the black majority population. Bill then orders Terick to be hunted down, but this order is only complied with hesitantly - too many colleagues fully understand the actions of their buddy Terick and are also frustrated not to be allowed to chase the black terrorists and their leader. Most of the policemen disobey the order and return to their homes. Thereupon Bill is provided by the government with an elite unit led by Captain Turnbull.
The "Whispering Death" and his people have meanwhile fled to the border area of the nearby foreign country and found refuge there. But Terick and Katchemu, an excellent tracker, stay on the terrorists' heels. When a guerrilla fighter gets into their hands, however, it is not Terick but the native Katchemu who tortures him in order to get information out of him. Finally, there is a series of skirmishes between Terick and Katchemu on the one hand and "Whispering Death" and his men on the other, until only the two protagonists are left. Now the former police officer Terick and the rapist and murderer of his bride, "Whispering Death", face each other. On bare rock there is a man-to-man fight. Terick shoots his opponent twice, then stabs him and kicks him down the cliff. The following morning the Rhodesian special unit caught up with Terick. However, the sole survivor of the carnage is obviously no longer in his right mind, the pain of the loss and his hate-driven vengeance have confused Terick's senses. In a feverish state, he speaks to Sally. When he came out of a cave in this state, took up his rifle and the soldiers felt threatened, he was shot.
Production notes
The Whispering Death was created on site in Rhodesia and premiered on March 15, 1976 in Munich.
The rampant scenes of violence meant that the film was on the index of the federal inspection agency from 1983 to the beginning of 2008 .
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Terick | James Faulkner | Christian Brückner |
| Bill | Christopher Lee | Christian Marshal |
| Sally | Sybil Danning | Viktoria Brams |
| "Whispering Death" | Horst Frank | Horst Frank |
| John | Trevor Howard | Arnold Marquis |
| Katchemu | Sam Williams | Herbert Weicker |
| Captain Turnbull | Erik Schumann | Erik Schumann |
Reviews
The reception of this Goslar production, like that of his other directorial works in southern Africa in the 1970s, was sometimes extremely negative. And as with his follow-up film Slavers - Die Sklavenjäger , three points were criticized in particular: 1. The lurid style, 2. The unrestrained, end-in-itself brutality and 3. A racism that is always subliminally resonating. Here are three examples:
Anglo-American publication The Christopher Lee Filmography states that the film is "a nasty, disgusting story of racial hatred and revenge."
"With its black and white painting, the unimaginatively staged spectacle looks like a call to racial hatred."
Jürgen Goslar's biography of his rough Africa films from the 1970s can be read in Das Großes Personenlexikon des Films : “It was not until the mid-1970s that he returned to cinema directing, this time with three international and top-class, sometimes quite brutal, exotic adventure stories Flair, which, like his work in the early 1960s, revealed considerable technical, stylistic and taste deficiencies. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Title according to the German opening credits
- ↑ The Whispering Death on schnittberichte.com
- ↑ Whispering Death - "The whispering death" in the German dubbing index
- ↑ Mark Miller / Tom Johnson: The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948–2003. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. P. 281 f. 1997
- ↑ Whispering Death - "The Whispering Death" in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on September 7, 2018
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 3: F - H. Barry Fitzgerald - Ernst Hofbauer. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 331.