The Strange Countess

In this mystery, a young lady almost loses her life. Investigators soon discover that the attempt is linked to a murder that occurred 20-years ago.

What is there not to like here- An eccentric Countess (Lil Dagover is quite good here, polite but there's a sinister undercurrent bubbling underneath, and that's not just because she wears this high-collared dress like Countess Dracula) in a eerie manor house, prisons, asylums, a deranged Klaus Kinski, Joachim Fuchsberger doing a Houdini escape, and an outstanding performance by Brigitte Grothum who plays the young lady who gets threatening phone calls, gets almost poisoned, almost crushed by falling debris at a building site and would fall through the balcony's collapse if she has clung on in time - there are other narrow escapes in this tense thriller that ticks all the boxes in order to get one gripped. Unlike some Krimi thrillers, this has no dull spots, is fast paced and doesn't jump randomly to different scenes with different characters. It sticks mainly with the lead actress. There are so many plot hooks that it reels you in and keeps you there till the 'ende credits.