Once again, I’m discovering more and more some films that I might have seen back in my 20s or 30s, that I never really paid much attention to. I must have watched them and then forgot about them because they left no real memory with me. It might be because of the shabby releases of them that always seemed to be around, where the quality was pretty rough, so you figured the film itself had to be cheap as well and not worth your time. Thankfully, as we grow older, we really do become a little more serious in our movie viewing and pay more attention to what we are watching. At least, I know I do. A prime example is this new release from Film Masters, a Kinski double feature, of Creature with the Blue Hand (1967) and Web of the Spider (1971). And when the films are presented like they are here, it really is worth your time.

Creature with the Blue Hand (1967) was one of the many entries in the krimi sub-genre, which is sort of akin to the Italian giallo. They were dark, murder mysteries, based on the works of British writer Edgar Wallace. The word krimi is a shortened version of kriminalfilm (crime film) or kriminalroman (crime novel). Between 1959 and 1972, there were 39 films made based on the works or Wallace, many of them with German actor Klaus Kinsi appearing in. At first, he would have bit parts or minor roles, usually used as a red herring, but eventually they started to grow. This film was based on the 1925 novel, The Blue Hand.

In the film Creature, he has a dual role of twin brothers, Dave and Richard Emerson, one of which is taken to jail right in the opening for a series of crimes that he may or may not have committed. Soon after, a key to his cell is thrown to him so he can escape, which he does, and travels back to his family home. Also, there is a hooded character that is killing people with a metal hand with blades for fingers, the one from the title, but we don’t know who this is. To go any further might ruin the mystery, but just know, there are plenty of mysteries in this film! Just when you think the big reveal comes…. A few minutes later, there is another reveal! And another! But it all comes together, well sort of, at the very end.

The krimi has a very different style than its cousin, the Italian giallo, but is still an interesting path you can take, if you choose to. It was directed by Alfred Vohrer, who did a lot of these types of films, with titles like The College Girl Murders (1967), The Horror of Blackwood Castle (1968), The Zombie Walks (1968), and School of Fear (1969). While the plot is so crazy with it going in every direction, Vohrer still keeps the us interested with what’s going on, hard as we may try to figure it out! Filled with so many great characters, aka red herrings, some demented sequences involving snakes and rats, it can be a fun watch.

Then we get to Web of the Spider (1971), which is actually a remake of the Antonio Margheriti film Castle of Blood (1964). But the strange thing is that Web is also directed by Margheriti! For some reason, he wanted to make a color version of his original film, usually the exact same story, but with different actors.

Now this is where the hard part comes. I absolutely love Castle of Blood. The black and white cinematography creates such amazing atmosphere, with that moody gothic feel to it. And of course, you have Barbara Steele. But for Web, you really have to look at it as a completely different animal. While still a gothic picture, Margheriti tries to use the colors in a way that maybe Bava would have, and it is effective to a degree. Now while we don’t have Steele back, we do have a few other actors that are worth taking note of.

First, while Kinski is made out to be the starring character, he’s only in the film in the very beginning and at the end, playing Edgar Allan Poe. While his is onscreen, he gives us one crazy performer as the writer, as he tells some bar patrons one of his demented tales, before an American journalist shows up that is dying to interview the famous writer. The journalist is played by Anthony Franciosa, best known to horror fans from Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982). Just like in Castle, his character is given a wager to spend one night in Castle Blackwood to see if he can survive. Once he arrives, he doesn’t take long before he becomes aware of the castle’s inhabitants. In Castle, the American Alan Foster is played by Georges Rivière, who does an okay job but nothing out of the ordinary. He’s good, just not great. In Web, we have Franciosa who is better, but also goes a bit over the top in some parts, especially at the end. But then when you realize that he’s completely gone mad by the time we get to the end, maybe it was a conscious choice of Franciosa to chew the scenery a bit.

Like all Film Masters’ releases, it has plenty of extras that make it worth adding to your collection. Not only are you getting 2 different films but 3 commentaries as well. Authors and film historians Stephen Jones and Kim Newman give us commentaries for Creature and Web, giving us a lot of information about Edgar Wallace and krimis, as well as the variety of versions of both films.

There is also an archival commentary from Sam Sherman for his version of Creature, which they released in 1987 under the title The Bloody Dead, which just has some scenes of more gore added to the print. This version is also included on the disc.

Then we have 2 featurettes here from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures. The first one is A Man of Mystery: Inside the World of Edgar Wallace, which gives us even more information about Wallace and krimis. If you’re not that familiar with this sub-genre, you will learn a lot. The second one is Kinski Krimis: Inside the Rialto Film Adaptations, where you get even more info on the krimis as well as Kinski’s involvement with them.

Of course, the films themselves probably look better than they ever have. Creature was scanned in 4K from a 35mm archival elements, while Web has a new 4K scan. Throw in a booklet with essays by Christopher Stewardson and Nick Clark and you have more reasons to add this disc to your collection.