Tenderness of the Wolves Movie Review 1973

Inspired by Fritz Lang's film "M" but sticking closer to its source material, the case of real-life mass murderer Peter Kurten, known as the Dusseldorf Vampire. Lommel's film is also given the "Fassbinder" spin (he's in the cast as well as the producer and editor). In 1925, black marketeer Fritz Haarmann (Raab) lures young runaway boys with the promise of a job, only to seduce and murder them--and sell their remains as meat. Raab rather resembles the Peter Lorre character but his Hartmann is all surface quiet and seething madness underneath. Very chilling. German with subtitles.

Distribution

Facets Multimedia, Inc., 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: (773)281-9075, Toll-free: 800-331-6197, Fax: (773)929-5437, Email: sales@facets.org, URL: http://www.facets.org

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 86 minutes.
Originally from German.

Cast and Crew

Genres

True Stories, Period Piece: 1920s, Germany, Serial Killers, Cannibalism

Screenplay

Kurt Raab

Cast

Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden, Margit Carstensen, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wolfgang Schenck, Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Juergen Prochnow

Cinematography

Jurgen Jurges

Director

Ulli Lommel

Music

Peer Raben