Dieter Eppler Movies
- 1984
In this satirical look at what passes for "normal" in love and sports, debut director and co-scripter Christoph Böll (nephew of writer Heinrich Böll), has a sexually ambivalent young man, Wieland Dietrich (Wieland Samolak) decide to show the world he is "normal" like everyone else and so he considers dance classes -- maybe not an ideal choice for his goal. But after the prospective dancer spots a good-looking athlete in a track suit, dance pales, and running comes to the fore. In spite of his confusion about the right way to the finish line, the track coach (Gerhard Olschewski) accepts Wieland on the team because he is desperate for runners. After his initial, much-bumbled training, Wieland spots a female shot-putter at their first big meet and falls in love immediately -- a stimulus that zooms him down the track on all six cylinders and leads to instant celebrity. The woman (Renate Muhri) feels the same about Wieland -- with the same results. When the coach catches on to the secret of their stellar performances, he unconscionably manipulates them to keep them in top form. The inventive coach has to make sure his love-struck stars remain that way -- a challenge which makes him consider surreptitious hormonal treatments with wholly unexpected results. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wieland Samolak, Gerhard Olschewski, (more)
- 1976
Thinking only of inspiring her students to learn something, schoolteacher Vera Romeyke (Rita Engelmann) encourages them to examine a factory's production methods. She inadvertently touches off a political firestorm which results in her being officially reprimanded and which effectively ends her career. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dieter Eppler
- 1972
This Italian western comedy has no shooting deaths, but a lot of fistfights. Provvidenza is a bounty hunter. He makes his living solely by catching his dim but powerful friend, the Hurricane Kid (Gregg Palmer) and turning him in for the reward money. A fully armed horseless carriage is one of the inventive elements of this film. One of the film's sillier highlights is an amazingly loud and long belch by the Kid. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Gregg Palmer, (more)
- 1970
- R
John Moulder-Brown plays a teen-aged London bathhouse attendant who forms a business alliance with female attendant Jane Asher. The object is to obtain better tips from their clients, but soon the impressionable Moulder-Brown falls in love with the older Asher. Brushed off by the girl in favor of a handsome swimming instructor, Moulder-Brown makes several halfhearted attempts at revenge. When the boy and girl finally do get together sexually, the event is motivated by lust and has tragic results. Deep End observes how adolescent obsession can mushroom into disaster if one doesn't have the emotional equipment to cope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Asher, John Moulder-Brown, (more)
- 1968
When a high-school girl (Anne Grete Nissen) complains of her inability to reach sexual climax, her doctor (Ib Mossin) suggests that she keep a diary of her sexual encounters. She does just that and soon finds herself caught up in a sexual merry-go-round that includes making a hardcore porno film in Sweden, an escapade with a German sadist, a lesbian encounter or two and a rousing tete-a-tete in a small automobile parked in the middle of the Champs Elysee. Supposedly made tongue-in-cheek, this Danish sex film used every cliche in the book and managed to bore most audiences. The film's frank sexual encounters were actually not as shocking as the casting of former teenage idol Ib Mossin as the lecherous doctor! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ib Mossin
Just the thing for spooky Halloween-night viewing, this good-looking German film from director Harald Reinl tells the story of the horrible Count Regula (Christopher Lee), who murdered a dozen virgins and drained their blood. For these heinous crimes, he was sentenced to be drawn and quartered. Thirty-five years later, his undead servant resurrects him for revenge and a 13th victim (pretty Karin Dor), whose blood will give Regula eternal life. Lex Barker (a former movie Tarzan) plays the descendant of the man who sentenced Regula to death and has the task of stopping him, aided by Dor's maid and a highwayman disguised as a monk. Some chilling visuals (a haunted forest with corpses growing out of trees, swarms of vultures in the castle corridors, the obligatory pendulum) and assorted creepy crawlies (pits of snakes, spiders and scorpions) make this a real old-fashioned scare-fest, and it is not too bloody for horror-hungry children. Very loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's Pit and the Pendulum, this film delivers on its promise to frighten, although the badly-dubbed U.S. version is to be avoided. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Robert Goulet plays David March, an American traitor living in Germany during World War II. Allowed to travel freely within the Nazi hierarchy, March is privy to secrets that would spell his doom were he on "our" side. What the Nazis don't know (but we do) is that March is on our side: he's a secret agent, posing as a turncoat in order to relay Nazi war plans to the allies. His main goal is to destroy a secret weapons factory, but he still has time to romance German scientist Jo Ann Pflug and French chanteuse Christine Carrere. I Deal in Danger was comprised of three half-hour episode of the 1966 TV series Blue Light; the seamwork shows at times, but the film runs a lot more smoothly than most such pastiches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Goulet, Christine Carère, (more)
- 1966
Siegfried's wife Kriemhild (Maria Marlow) seeks vengeance after she learns of her husband' death. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karin Dor, Herbert Lom, (more)
- 1966
Director Harald Reinl takes this epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy from the 12th-century Teutonic legend and from the 1924 Fritz Lang silent classic. Siegfried (Uwe Beyer) is a heroic warrior who bathes in dragon's blood to become nearly invincible. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uwe Beyer, Rolf Henniger, (more)
Also released under the title Curse of the Blood-Ghouls, this horror film follows the terrifying events that befall a young couple when they move into a castle that is inhabited by a hungry vampire. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dieter Eppler
- 1962
In this German comedy, singer Freddy Quinn discovers that a vein of copper runs through the tract of Canadian land he has inherited, and he must battle with a greedy neighbor to secure his mineral rights. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Under Ten Flags is a fact-based British maritime epic set during World War II. Allied ships are being victimized by a German surface raider, which sails under friendly flags until moving in for the kill. Since so many nationalities were involved in making this film (both before and behind the cameras), it is difficult at times to determine whose side one is supposed to be on. On screen, the Germans seem the cleverest and most resourceful of all the combatants; at times, one hopes that they'll get away with their high-seas perfidy--especially since the captain is played by charismatic American actor Van Heflin. Under Ten Flags has a minimum of war action, but this didn't prevent an enterprising home-movie firm from excerpting nine minutes' worth of highlights for an 8-millimeter version--which did better business than the original 92 minute feature! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Charles Laughton, (more)
A horror film of dubious taste, a least for the early '60s when it was released, this Gothic tale about transplanted heads comes from Germany and is directed by Victor Trivas. Prof. Abel (Michel Simon) has invented the miraculous "Serum X," and with it he successfully keeps a dog's head alive after the rest of the canine is quite dead. When the able Prof. Abel dies, his assistant, the odd Dr. Ood (Horst Frank), keeps Abel's head around -- but not for old times' sake. Dr. Ood is in love with a hunchbacked nurse (Karin Kernke) and he wants Abel's head to help him out with a novel transplant operation. Dr. Ood wants to take the body of a stripper (Christiane Maybach), snip off her head, and put the nurse's head in its place. Unfortunately, nothing goes exactly as he plans. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Frank, Michel Simon, (more)
- 1958
This WW II drama chronicles the adventures of a German U-boat commander who launches a successful attack on a battleship in a Scottish bay and becomes a hero. Unfortunately, the British fight back and sink his submarine. The hero is then captured by the English. Their ship is then sunk by a different German U-boat which is in turn sunk by a British bomber. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Robert Graf plays the title role in the allegorical German drama Jonas. The hero is an anonymous worker in a huge printing plant. Feeling somewhat lost in an increasingly mechanized, impersonal world, Jonas takes to wandering around town during his lunch hour. One afternoon, he impulsively purchases a hat, which is promptly stolen. For Jonah, this is the last straw: he manifests his anger against society by stealing a hat himself. The rest of the film traces Jonah's desperate -- and unsuccessful -- efforts to get rid of his ill-gotten headgear. Virtually a pantomime, Jonas is underscored by the plaintive music of Duke Ellington. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Graf, Dieter Eppler, (more)
