Hamburg, Germany, 1944, during World War II. A serial killer terrorizes the city. When it seems clear that the local police are unable to catch him, forces as dark and terrible as the criminal himself become involved in the case.
Direction
Siodmak's shadows eat characters whole before the Nazis even speak.
Acting
Mario Adorf's killer is terrifyingly ordinary—no theatrics, just appetite.
Writing
The script makes you root for cops until you remember whose uniform they wear.
Director
Robert Siodmak
Claus Holm
Police Commissioner Axel Kersten
Mario Adorf
Bruno Lüdke
Hannes Messemer
SS-Gruppenführer Rossdorf
Peter Carsten
SS-Standartenführer Mollwitz
Carl Lange
Major Thomas Wollenberg
Werner Peters
Willi Keun
Annemarie Düringer
Helga Hornung
Monika John
Waitress Lucy Hansen
Ernst Fritz Fürbringer
Presiding Judge Dr. Schleffien
Walter Janssen
DS Boehm
Georg Lehn
Detective Bruehl
Lukas Ammann
Public Defender
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Siodmak fled Nazi Germany in 1933; this was his first film back, a poisoned love letter to the German noir tradition he helped create.
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