Tenderness of the Wolves [Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe] *** (1973, Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden, Margit Carstensen) – Classic Movie Review 7499

Rainer Werner Fassbinder produced, edited and appears (as Wittowski) in director Ulli Lommel’s gruesome and eerie but riveting and revealing 1973 German horror film Tenderness of the Wolves (Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe), a version of the story about the real-life 1920s Vampire of Düsseldörf, Fritz Haarmann (Kurt Raab), who killed more than 25 boys, possibly up to 50, and sold their bodies as meat to his circle of fellow cannibals.

The Sweeney Todd-style tale also inspired Fritz Lang’s classic film M, and its star Peter Lorre seems to have inspired Kurt Raab too in his performance as actor. Tenderness of the Wolves is hard to watch, but some black humour, the stylised filming and an underlying serious of intent help to take it away from excesses of horrific realism. As a portrait of a gay cannibal serial killer, the film has a rancid gay self-loathing vibe.

Raab wrote the screenplay and designed the production as well as stars. They swap the time frame of the story of Fritz Haarmann (1879-1925) to the late Forties partly for budget reasons and partly so they can mount an attack on what they see as the decay of war-torn Germany.

Also in the cast are Jeff Roden, Margit Carstensen, Hannelore Tiefenbrunner, Tanara Schanzara, Wolfgang Schenck, Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Rainer Hauer, Heinrich Giskes, El Hedi ben Salem, Jürgen Prochnow and Peer Raben.

That same year, Brigitte Mira (1910–2005) and El Hedi ben Salem star in Fassbinder’s Fear Eats the Soul (1973).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7499

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com