REVIEW: DAS HAUS DER KROKODILE (1976) "The House Of Crocodiles" / A Krimi for Children (!?????)

 Sooner or later, this had to happen. As the film noir got his so-so children's adaptation with "The Window" in 1946, the Krimi got his own youth-oriented spin-off with this TV series about murderous goings-on in a spooky mansion.

And this is not the only parallel between those two movies: As they present the crime in a serious manner, and you feel that the child in question is in certified danger, one might wonder if this—although certainly aimed AT - is actually made FOR children. The solitary experience of helplessness of a young boy investigating strange incidents might - in  both cases—prove too much for audiences under 12.

I will not go too much into detail, but this TV series made for the ARD/BR state-owned TV network boasts some impressive acting and set decors, splendidly underscored by a classical piano-soundtrack or silence:

The Uncle has given his flat in an art deco house to the family of Victor. But Ma and Pa have gone on vacation already - preparing the holiday home, leaving Victor with his two sisters, the slightly older Cora and the grown-up fashion model Louise, alone. Louise is not interested in the two kids, as she has some romantic entanglements going on and certainly is not happy to play "parent" for the two. Cora still has to go to school while Victor stays at home, as his class has gone on a school trip without him.

The Uncle had been active importing stuffed animals from Africa and his flat looks like it: Stuffed, fully grown crocodiles, baby alligators, and lots of trophies and fur. For Victor, this is a big - if scary - adventure land, but while playing out his fantasies of swashbuckling pirates, he discovers that he is not alone in the flat. 

The alarmed housekeeper and her son-in-law enter but cannot find anything suspicious in the flat; just old stories about Cecilia, the daughter of the Uncle, who happened to walk around disguised as a ghost and fall off the stairs, raise interest.

Victor climbs the staircase to where she fell and enters the adjourning attic room. Accidentally he finds her diary. Which is an eerie comic about her being stalked by two big red eyes in every picture. Victor gets the same feeling of an alien presence here as he had in the flat.

Of course no one believes him, but he is able to find out that at night, obviously, someone mysteriously enters the flat and goes to work on the Uncle's old desk, changing the position of a stuffed caiman every time.

If you know your way around the Krimiverse, you will very early on get the idea of what is behind these strange visits and why the Uncle had become so rich by just trading stuffed animals. But that is not the point.

The very unique feature of the movie is the eerie setting that both looks spooky but then real early-1970s like (the children's room). Acting by Thomas Ohrner is superb and he would later admit to feeling very scared during the shooting himself. Basically evoking the same fairy-tale feeling that "Suspiria" had, Victor's quest through the house and the discovery of each new key to the story is fascinating.

Three years later, Ohrner would play against none other than Horst Frank in the 1979 series "Timm Thaler", arguably one of the best German TV-series of the 1970s and would become a genuine star. Both series would be remade as movies, and he would appear in both (quite good) adaptations.

His slightly elder sister both in "House of Crocodiles" and in real life, Caroline Ohrner will be known to you as part of the cast of "Enigma Rosso" and "Passion Flower Hotel/Boarding School" (alongside Nastassja Kinski and Marion Kracht), both co-produced by Artur Brauner's CCC only to appear sporadically on TV episodes of DERRICK and other krimi-series.

Carolin Ohrner, Veronique Delbourg (The Petits English Girls), Nastassja Kinski (Cat People), Marion Kracht (Lady Dracula) and Fabiana Udenio (Bride of Re-Animator) on the set of "Leidenschaftliche Blümchen"...

Director Wilhelm Schweimer (Wilm ten Haaf) had already been around the Krimi-circle since the 1950s, even directing an early Kai Fischer vehicle called "Lockvogel der Nacht" (Lure in the Night). But here he is pretty up to date and able to get the max out of the 16mm 4:3 TV format. He knows his krimis and it is no co-incidence that Victor just gets a Jerry Cotton pulp-Krimi at the start of the miniseries. (And it is none other than "Um Null Uhr Schnappt die Falle zu"!!!).

The 3 hours go by quickly, and although clearly recognizable as a product of the time, it does not feel dated at all. It has a genuine sense of threat underneath it all which is captivating for the viewer. I can see why this caused such a riot when aired in a slot normally reserved for very harmless kiddy-TV fare. 

As "The Window", this is an interesting excercise in showing the real pain and terror a child would have in this situation.

The Pidax-DVD is just acceptable, taken from the magnetic transmission tape but sadly lacking any de-interlacing it is not recommended for home-cinema viewing. Sadly.

The 2006 remake is very well made and available in English as "Victor and the House of Crocodiles".