Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Myriam Nys (I'm afraid there are going to be some spoilers. However, I'll try to limit their number and scope.)An unusually original, clever and intelligent thriller, well capable of competing with the best of American output. There are also some scenes which, once seen, cannot be unseen : I defy anyone to forget Gert Fröbe and his winsome skull-like rictus.However - and in this case it's a rather large "however" - the movie is not without its problems. Problem one : the movie tells of a (retired) police inspector who is determined to catch a child killer. In order to do so he uses another, completely innocent and unsuspecting child as bait, in the same way that a hunter might tie a bleating goat to a tree. This is seriously, seriously unethical behavior, especially if one takes into account the fact that both the little girl and her mother regard the police inspector as their kindly benefactor. The movie does not fully explore the moral (or rather, immoral) weight and ramifications of this act. Problem two concerns the psychological evolution of the (retired) police inspector. When the movie starts, the inspector is shown as a pretty decent policeman - not a saint, perhaps, nor a bundle of laughs, but certainly someone with a working conscience and a sense of right and wrong. This, in other words, is a man who knows there are certain lines one should not cross. Later on, the same man tethers a goat / child to a tree, which is a hideously transgressive act. So where does this ruthlessness (or cruelty, or callousness, or blindness, or fanaticism, or...) come from ? Why, and how, does the man give himself permission to behave like this ? What has happened to his heart, his soul ? Feel free to ask the question, but do not count on the movie to give you an answer, or even a beginning of an answer...

punishmentpark 'Es Geschah...' has one really big problem, in my opinion: the lead character, policeman (or, at that that time, former policeman) Matthäi takes too big risks with the little child. Up until then, he has been a brilliant and feeling (police)man, and to let the child wander off alone on several occasions - making her a sitting duck for a perverted killer - is completely out of character. Beyond that, this was a fast paced, at times very atmospheric crime thriller concerning a daring subject for its time. The use of a psychiatrist looks to be something that may have inspired Hitchcock for 'Psycho', but I'm only guessing there. The opening with the peddler makes a clear statement, reminiscent (well, the other way around, really) of 'Jagten' (2012). The use of children's drawings and fantasy is, it's been said before, a terrific idea. And finally, the creating of a bad guy like Schrott, with his all that puppet play and such, as performed by Fröbe, is eerie as you'll not much see it.Still, I can't go any higher than a big 5 out of 10, on account of the lack of credibility beyond a certain point... such a shame.

ma-cortes This haunting movie based on a Fredrich Durrenmatt novel concerns about a detective (an obstinate Heinz Ruhmann) becomes involved in the case of a little girl's killing . At the beginning appears as main suspect an unfortunate vagrant (incomparable Michael Simon). Then the policeman hires a gas station and takes employee a single woman (a sweet Maria Rosa Salgado) with a daughter , being his intention of utilizing them as bait for a cruel murderous . The police detective trying to trap a child killer , at the same time his mind on the woman and the little girl . This Spain/German/Switzerland co-production is a well crafted movie with plenty of suspense , thrills and psychological studio . The picture functions on various levels with superb roles nicely played by the entire casting and a well-paced screenplay that leads to the climax with the presence of the serial killer along with the kid and the possible tragedy . Friedrich Dürrenmatt wrote the script while at the same time developing the novel form of the story under the title "Das Versprechen" . He completed the book after the movie was finished and gave it a different , much darker ending . Its perfect developing resides not in displays of frenzied action and grisly violence like happens in modern cinema , but rather lies about interesting characters and suspenseful happenings . Atmospheric white and black cinematography by Heinrich Guerner and appropriate musical score with thrilling leitmotif by Bruno Cantafora . The motion picture was well written by Ladislao Vadja (together with Hans Jacoby and Friedrich Durrenmatt) and excellently directed . Vadja was author of magnificent movies , such as : 'The miracle of Marcelino' , 'Angel passed on Brooklyn' , and 'Uncle Jacinto' . In my opinion this is one of the best films to come out of Europe in the decade of the 50s . If you like thoughtful and brooding films that are exciting and rich pace with rhythm but no displaying a great deal of action , you'll like this one . Other movies about this exciting novel are the followings : 'The cold light of day' directed by Rudolf Van Den Berg with Richard E Gant ; a German version (1997) directed by Nick Hoffman ; and American version 'The pledge' by Sean Penn with Jack Nicholson , Benicio Del Toro and Robin Wright Penn .

amikus2000 Once I met an arabian, and while talking about cinema, he said, for knowing this movie he would forget five of his lovely movies, after watching it ! G. Fröbe and H. Rühmann are playing such fabulous, that you think somebody inconvenient is entering your near forest. Everybody I know is worn down after this Horror-criminal, where NO violence or anything bizarre is shown! Turn off the lights.One of the best movies of the 1950ies.