KRIMI definition and sub-genres

 The german KRIMI movie genre generally describes german crime movies that were produced mainly from 1959-1972 that have cheap production values, are highly entertaining, surreal and even funny. Around 100 were produced in that time. 

A new german magazine for crime literature
If you want to read it: HERE

In Germany, Krimi stands for either crime-related movies or books. It is the abbrevation AND diminuation of either "Kriminalfilm" or "Kriminalroman". The diminuitive character means that their purpose is to entertain, not to educate. 

Sensationalist
german "True-Krimi"
magazine

Outside of german-speaking countries, only the Edgar-Wallace related Krimis are defined as Krimis. This follows the same pattern as Giallo. Certainly an Edgar Wallace Krimi would be advertised as Giallo in Italy and vice versa.

Let's find out which features make a movie unmistakably "Krimi" : 

Color or B/W: The more popular Krimis are in B/W and stylistically go back to the Film Noir which goes back to Expressionist Cinema which, of course, was a germanic thing. In retrospect, the black and white Krimis just "feel" more krimi than the color ones (of which there are much fewer as it was much more expensive to produce them) and the "Eastmancolor 3-Strip" films feel more "krimi" than the "Technicolor"-movies. The Technicolor-movies feel more "real" and coincidentally belong more to the gialli.

Indoor/Outdoor: The unique feel of the Krimis is given to fact  that most of the indoor-shooting took place for nearly all of them at CCC-Studios in Berlin which basically means that EW/BEW/Mabuse/ Films all had the same lighting and overall look to them.

The timeframe 1959-1972 is fixed by Rialto's output of Edgar Wallace Krimis, starting in 1959 with "Der Frosch mit der Maske" and ending 1972 with "Das Geheimnis der grünen Stecknadel". It is very odd that such a date is set. Nobody would think of setting the timeframe for spymovies according to MGM's James Bond cycle. Nobody would define  "Gialli" as being only produced between 1963 and 1976...

Then we got the setting. This is a surreal England as portrayed in the popular Miss Marple movies starring Agatha Rutherford with scary old ladies and spleeny husbands, preferrably nobility. In that, of course, the Edgar Wallace movies owe as much to Agatha Christie as they owe to EW. Out of budgetary reasons, germanic towns have to stand in for London, mostly Hamburg and Berlin but Munich as well as Vienna and Zurich or Welfian Hanover.

Joachim Fuchsberger was the male star of the 
Krimis, Karen Dor the female one.

Creepyness and humour. The Krimis were desingned to be as creepy as humerous, sometims silly. "The indian scarf" is the best example. Not only being basically an Agatha Christie movie, but it also boast the serial killings of the later gialli and a very ironic ending, trying to release the audience with a smile (which in this special case backfired).

A Scotland Yard Whodunnit. Typically, though not always the case, the killer is not known to us and will be revealed at the end. And it is Scotland Yard that investigates, sometimes there is an independent investigator (PI or simply boyfriend of damsel).

Gimmick-Killer. He's a monk, a nun, a priest, a skeleton, you name it. Sometimes.

Add to this to the existing definition by  HG Steinbauer, published on his "Krimihomepage":

1. German etc. (Co-) Production

2. Sensationalist/Outragous crime-plot

3. Recognizable German actors

4. Set in an idealized England, but shot mostly in a german country..

5. Comic-Relief character

6. Good vs. Evil and no in-between

7. Hero saves/gets girl in peril

Now let's have a look a the sub-genres:

A. "Edgar Wallace Style" Krimi: As described above, ideally based on a published Krimi (book), best if it was published in the "Goldman" Krimi-book series with its recognizable red covers. Those movies tried to mimic the style of the original "Rialto" - Edgar Wallace movies.

B. "Exotic" Krimi: Derived from the Edgar Wallace "Sanders"-Franchise, they mix exotic locations sometimes with spy activity. A "Fu Manchu" would be considered that.

C "Mabuse-Style" Krimi: Derived from the 1961 Movie "Die Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse", these are "Classic" Krimis but with a sci-fi touch and the aim of the criminal is "mind-control" and "world domination".

D "Giallo" Krimis: Starting with "6 Donne", most of the early italian thrillers were co-produced by the germans to sell them as "Krimis" to their audience. With the german and french movie markets dwindling quickly at the end of the 1960ies, the italians still were going strong at the BO until they caught up in 1976. 

"In the Style of Edgar Wallace",
otherwise german buyers would
be confused.

E "TV" Krimis: Yes, television was VERY quick to copy the Edgar Wallace style and produce some Krimi-highlights like "Das Halstuch" by Francis Durbridge. F. Durbridge became the Edgar Wallace equivalent for the small screen. These very well produced mini-series (each of the F. Durbridge Krimis had 4-6 episodes) absolutely have to be discovered outside of Germany. Some of them were even shot at CCC-studios like the "real" Krimis.

F "Grusel" Krimis. The scary ones, sometimes even supernatural, like "The Curse of the Green Eyes". I bet you never heard of this one.

Here is a short introduction.

The differences between Giallo and Krimi are quite obvious: The aim of the Krimis were to adress also a female audience. The target groups were young couples and thus, the girlfriend should have been not too frightened to get home. The Giallo does not care this and adresses a mostly male audience with an added south-european machismo. 

For the different Krimi movie franchises, please check THIS post.

Last words: As you might know, the germans don't get this when you talk to them about "Krimis". They would use "Edgar-Wallace-Style Krimi" or "Edgar-Wallace Epigonenkrimi" to describe these specific kinds of films.

This is original work, please refer to this blog when quoting. If you are interested in the german TV-Krimis, I wholeheartedly recommend this page : www.krimihomepage.de (translated by Google).

Yeah, ok, you want to know which 7 movies are in the DVD-box above:

1. Das Rätsel der Grünen Spinne (Mystery of the Green Spider) a musical Krimi (NO!!! Sub-Genre!!!) done by the folks that later gave us "Hotel der Toten Gäste". A curio.

2. Die Nylonschlinge.(The Nylon Noose) EC Dietrich's first KRIMI-style... eh... Krimi. Worthwhile though done on a very cheap budget. Dietmar Schönherr is a fine lead. Starring Laya Raki and her world-famous striptease routine (twice!!!) Come in folks,, come on in!!!

3. Das Geheimnis der Roten Quaste (The Mystery of the Red Tassel). "Tassel" Really. Strictly and 100% Austrian Krimistuff that was completely forgotten until this print showed up. An even greater curio.

4. Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor (The Dartmoor Inn) is a better known EW-clone with better budget and some actual actors. They wanted to start their own series with it (based on the novel by famous crime author "Victor Gunn"who actually was a best-seller in 1964).Solid.

5. Der Nebelmörder (Killer in the Fog) started off as TV-Krimi, then became a movie to be shot in color, then became this black and white something. I have not seen it yet, so I cannot judge.

6. Der Würger vom Tower (The Tower's Strangler). Another EC cheapo Krimi, this time completely swissmade. But don't let that fool you. You won't find neither quality nor chocolate here. Adi Berber's last movie.

7. Der Spinnenmörder (The Bat / The SpiderKiller) based on "The Bat" this is a 1978 TV-Krimi, and not at all bad (ugh ...)

The Green Spider

Mystery of the Green Scorpio

Scary, Hard and Refined

The side effects of watching
too many Krimis AND
being a Krimiaut(h)or