THE BLACK COBRA (aka La Cobra Noir) (DVD)

A truck driver (Hoven) innocently transports a drug dealer and his shipment of drugs. They are stopped by members of an opposing drug gang (posing as police) and the dealer is shot dead. The truck driver soon falls into a myriad of terrifying situations with the gangsters trying to kill him and the police trying to arrest him. He takes it on the lam with gal pal Smymer, eventually ending up at an out-of-the-way roadhouse known as "The Black Cobra. Preiss is the head of the gang, who only fears a furtive character named "Mr. Green." Dahlke is great as the stuffy police chief who always seems to be one step behind. Berber is the former wrestler who acts as Hoven and Smymer's protector. Watch as he takes on a mad, scarred man-beast called Goba, who looks like a castoff from The Island of Dr. Moreau. But it's Klaus Kinski who almost steals the show as a drug addicted pianist, always trying to peddle tips for fixes. There are many twists and turns in this well-made German Krimi film, which all come to a head in an exciting showdown in the twisted maze of an auto wrecking yard. There's also an amazing dual between a mongoose and a black cobra. If you're a fan of early '60s Edgar Wallace films you'll definitely want to check this out.

• crime
• mystery