Im Banne des Unheimlichen

Im Banne des Unheimlichen (lit. Under the Spell of the Unknown); English title The Zombie Walks, a.k.a. The Hand of Power) is a 1968 West German crime film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Joachim Fuchsberger and Siw Mattson [de].^[2]

Im Banne des Unheimlichen
Directed by	Alfred Vohrer
Screenplay by	Ladislas Fodor[1]
Based on	The Hand of Power by Edgar Wallace[1]
Produced by	Horst Wendlandt[1]
Starring	Joachim Fuchsberger Siv Mattson Wolfgang Kieling Pinkas Braun Monika Burg
Cinematography	Karl Löb[1]
Edited by	Jutta Hering[1]
Music by	Peter Thomas[1]
Production company	Rialto Film Preben Philipsen GmbH & Co. KG[1]
Release date	17 April 1968 (1968-04-17) (West Germany)
Running time	89 minutes[1]
Country	West Germany[1]

Plot

Scotland Yard's Inspector Higgins (Joachim Fuchsberger) becomes involved in a case that began with the corpse of Sir Oliver supposedly laughing from inside of his own coffin during his funeral. Soon people who were close to Sir Oliver start to get killed. Sir Oliver's brother Sir Cecil swears he saw his dead brother jaunting around the countryside in a skeleton costume. Higgins teams up with reporter Peggy Brand (Siw Mattson) and his bumbling chief Sir Arthur (Hubert von Meyerinck) to unmask the villain who is killing people with a poisoned scorpion ring.

Cast

• Joachim Fuchsberger as Inspektor Higgins
• Siw Mattson [de] as Peggy Ward
• Wolfgang Kieling as Sir Cecil
• Hubert von Meyerinck as Sir Arthur
• Pinkas Braun as The Stranger
• Claude Farell as Adela
• Peter Mosbacher as Ramiro
• Siegfried Rauch as Dr. Brand
• Otto Stern [de] as Mr. Merryl
• Renate Grosser as Mrs. Potter
• Hans Krull [de] as Mr. Potter
• Lillemor Lindfors as Sabrina
• Ewa Strömberg as Librarian
• Ilse Pagé as Miss Finley
• Edith Schneider [de] as Professor Bound
• Wolfgang Spier [de] as Bannister
• Jimmy Powell as Casper

Production

The screenplay for the film is based on the novel The Hand of Power by Edgar Wallace.^[3]

Reception

The film premiered at the "Europa" cinema at Oberhausen in West Germany on April 17, 1968.^[1]