Merely a few months after "Der Gorilla von Soho", Horst Tappert returned as Inspector Perkins in "Der Mann mit dem Glasauge". The second movie is clearly better scripted than the first and much more exciting. Perkins is this time chasing a gang who trades drugs and girls between England and South America. Much to the dislike of his boss, Sir Arthur, Perkins suspects members of the high society to be involved. Sir Arthur (Hubert von Meyerinck) has a couple of rather silly scenes in the movie which in my opinion are not as convincing as those in several films of his predecessor Siegfried Schürenberg, or maybe the police chief with certain weaknesses simply became a formula that had been used too often. The versatile performance by Karin Hübner (mostly a theater and TV actress) as Yvonne must be mentioned, ranging from cold and calculating to crazy with love. All in all, "Der Mann mit dem Glasauge" is one of the better color movies of the Wallace series and probably Horst Tappert's best.

Heroin smuggling, white slave trading, foul murders committed by sinister villains, clumsy Scotland Yard inspectors... And, of course, all this taking place in the heart of London, where everyone speaks German. Yup, we boarded another Edgar Wallace Krimi-Carousel. Every time I start watching one of those, I feel as if the plot is derivative and the formula is getting worn out, but somehow the film in question always turns out entertaining and sufficiently innovative. "The Man with the Glass Eye" is special and memorable enough for a couple of reasons. It's a Krimi in color, with a couple of grisly murder sequences and clever twists. It's also the first German Wallace-adaptation I've seen that doesn't star Eddi Arent in the pitiable comic-relief role. This responsibility is taken over by Stefan Behrens (as a Sgt. With a squeaky voice) and Hubert Von Meyerinck (as the ignorant chief of Scotland Yard). Although they hardly share any scenes together, "The Man with the Glass Eyes" also unites Horst Tappert and Fritz Wepper, five years before they would star together in the most successful (I think) German TV-series ever, namely "Derrick". The most disturbing character in this film is, hands down, a spooky ventriloquist who has dummies with gigantic heads and he makes them call him "daddy". In fact, he even makes them talk when there isn't an audience around. Bizarre.

One of Rialto Film's long-running series of Edgar Wallace films - one of the fathers of the giallo - this Alfred Vohrer (Dead Eyes of London, Creature with the Blue Hand) film predates Argento reimagining the form and instead feels very visually like Bava's Blood and Black Lace without Bava's camera gymnastics.

In the English dubbed version, the film starts with Wallace's name appearing on the screen and a voice saying, "Good evening. This is Edgar Wallace speaking." That's a real scary moment, because at this point, Wallace had been dead for 37 years.

There's a poisoned cat mask - I know, right!?! - and a pool hall turning into a battle royal, as well as a woman menaced by a blowtorch - yeah, that kind of stuff didn't just start in the 1980's, Siskel and Ebert - and a maniacal dummy named Snookie. Plus, it's all set to some bouncy jazz!

I wouldn't trust any single person in this movie. It's literally all a pit of vipers. Well, maybe you can trust Scotland Yard. But every actor, carnie, gangster and moll in this - I thought you knew what a wretched hive of scum and villany was, but then I watched this movie!