The Loreley’s Grasp (1973)

Attractive young women in Germany are being messily murdered in the midnight, so a local girl’s school — maybe a finishing school for twenty-something airheads? — hires a famed hunter Sigur (Tony Kendall) to patrol the property after hours. He fails in part because he spends a lot of time flirting with the hottest teacher, Elke (Silvia Tortosa). Another contributing factor is he’s romancing the monster while she’s in her human, non-fishy form.

The movie balances on the edge between nuclear-horror films like The Horror of Party Beach and more fantasy storytelling. There’s a weirdo scientist doing strange experiments with chemicals and disembodied hands. There’s also a secret underwater temple.

The movie has many faults. Some are endearing, like the floppy fish-monster costume. I fell asleep during one of the many Rhine excursions, though, and missed the underwater temple the first time. Other than that, though, the movie is plenty colorful and the unique setting and unintentional silliness might redeem the hour and a half you spend watching it.

Here in the real world, the Loreley is the name of a huge rock in the Rhine. It is also the name of a siren-like creature who lures fishers to their deaths with her song. This movie dropped me in a bit of a research rabbit hole having to do with the myth, not the story, because the Lorelei turns up in many guises in popular culture.

Published Sun Jan 16 2022 12:40:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)