The Devil Strikes at Night

1957

1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

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Drama

Thriller

Crime

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.

Directors

Robert Siodmak

Writers

Werner Jörg Lüddecke(screenplay by)

Will Berthold(original story by)

Stars

Claus Holm

Mario Adorf

Hannes Messemer

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Top cast

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

Willi Keun

Helga Hornung

Waitress Lucy Hansen

Anna Hohmann

Ernst Fritz Fürbringer

Presiding Judge Dr. Schleffien

Walter Janssen

DS Boehm

Wilmut Borell

SS-Obersturmführer Heinrich

Helmut Brasch

SS-Truppführer Scharf

Detective Bruehl

Public Defender

Frau Weinberger

Doorman's Wife

Frau Lehmann

Directors

Robert Siodmak

Writers

Werner Jörg Lüddecke(screenplay by)

Will Berthold(original story by)

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8/10

Serial Killer - Nazis - Same Thing! Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam is directed by Robert Siodmak and written by Will Berthold (article) and Werner Jörg Lüddecke. It stars Claus Holm, Annemarie Düringer, Mario Adorf, Hannes Messemer, Carl Lange and Werner Peters. Music is by Siegfried Franz and cinematography by Georg Krause. A serial killer is terrorising Hamburg, Germany, during World War II. When the local police struggle to catch him, the Gestapo are brought in to crack the case. The basis for the story is that of real life serial killer Bruno Lüdke, here played by Adorf. Yet this is only a side-bar to the actuality of Siodmak's film, for it's a clinical deconstruction of Nazi Germany at the time, a look at the final throes of that regime. It shows how the corrupt powers would do anything to not make their government look bad, with orders even coming from Adolf himself! It's all very fascinating and potent, and well performed. There's some nice visual touches via the night sequences, though you reasonably expect to have more from Siodmak, a fine purveyor of expressionism and noir chiaroscuro. There's some contrivances and a couple of badly staged action sequences, but this remains a tough political drama with mystery shadings. 8/10

John Chard14 Mar, 2016