Given its title, one might expect 1963’s The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle to provide Gothic horror from the legendary Hammer Studios. Instead, it delivers a West German affair created by the “Central Cinema Company” (CCC) production group.

As he hosts a dinner party at Blackmoor Castle, wealthy Lucius Clark (Rudolf Fernau) announces to his guests that he will soon be knighted. However, a masked man stalks the estate’s grounds and accuses Lucius of murder to facilitate the theft of valuable diamonds.

The intruder warns Lucius not to sell the diamonds or he will suffer a terrible fate. He ignores this threat and sets additional mayhem into motion.

Strangler brought my second experience with a CCC “krimi” thriller. It followed a screening of 1963’s The Curse of the Yellow Snake.

Though that one boasted potential, the end result didn’t work. It suffered from a muddled plot with too many extraneous story beats.

Happily, Strangler avoids those problems. While it also comes with some side paths, it nonetheless concentrates on the main narrative o a much higher degree.

This allows Strangler to become a pretty satisfying mix of terror and mystery. We follow the pursuit of the murderer – mainly led by Scotland Yard Inspector Jeff Mitchell (Harry Riebauer) – as well as the actions of the title character as well.

Some of the story leans toward trite elements, especially when Jeff forms the inevitable romantic interest with Lucius’s niece Claridge Dorsett (Karin Dor). We also get some silly comic relief from Lord Tavish Blackmoor (Hans Nielsen), the owner of the estate who rents it to Lucius.

Despite these choices, most of Strangler goes in the right direction, and it sticks with the main narrative enough that the detours don’t really harm it. While extraneous, these domains don’t take up enough time to mar the proceedings.

Instead, Strangler offers a tight and surprisingly gruesome tale. No, its “gore” doesn’t seem shocking circa 2025 – or even 1975 – but for 1963, the movie seems awfully graphic.

These elements don’t seem gratuitous, though. They make the horror more palpable and add a layer of terror to the proceedings.

Strangler gives off a Hitchcock vibe at times, for even though it remains a brutal journey in most ways, it come with enough sly black humor to balance out the tale. Lord Blackmoor should become an albatross, but he actually adds some good mirth and doesn’t damage the tone.

I admit Strangler falters in one notable way: the reveal of the killer. The ending relies on some silly contrivances that seem likely to elicit groans from the viewer.

Nonetheless, I think Strangler largely works, as its 87 minutes pack a good punch. No one will mistake it for a classic but it winds up as a compelling genre entry.

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle appears in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect largely solid visuals here.

Overall sharpness worked fine. A few shots came across as a bit soft, but most of the film exhibited appealing accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed light but appropriate, and I witnessed no print flaws.

Blacks felt dark and deep, while shadows offered positive delineation. This wound up as a highly satisfying presentation.

Unfortunately, the film’s LPCM monaural soundtrack held up less well over the last 62 years. Dialogue tended to seem thin and edgy.

The electronic score usually came across as somewhat shrill, and effects brought mild distortion without much range. Given the track’s age, I didn’t think it became significantly flawed, but it came with some issues.

Don’t expect anything better from the included LPCM monaural English dub of Strangler, as it suffered its own sonic issues. Actually, it showed less roughness but it instead seemed dull and flat.

The performances of the English voice actors also became an issue, as they appeared cartoony and broad. Unless you just can’t stomach subtitles, stick with the superior German version.

When we move to extras, we open with an audio commentary from film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific discussion of story and characters, cast and crew, genre areas, production topics and their view of the film.

I can't call this the most informative track I've heard, as the participants digress too much. Nonetheless, they present a chummy and engaging pair so they make this a fun listen despite the drawbacks.

We can view the film with or without an introduction from film historian Tim Lucas than runs 10 minutes, five seconds. Lucas tells us a nice summary of topics connected to the movie’s background and creators.

The disc also provides a trailer for Strangler.

While I can’t clam it fires on all cylinders, The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle does enough right to deliver a fairly winning thriller. With a dark sense of humor and some gruesome elements, it becomes a pretty solid murder mystery. The Blu-ray boasts very good visuals along with iffy audio and a few bonus materials. Chalk up Strangler as a fairly engaging tale.

Note that as of May 2025, this Blu-ray for The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle comes only as part of a six-film collection called “Terror in the Fog”. It also includes fellow West German 1960s flicks The Curse of the Yellow Snake, The Mad Executioners, The Phantom of Soho, The Monster of London City and The Racetrack Murders.