"Verboten!" is a most unusual film, as following WWII, most American movies ignored post-war Japan and Germany. It is even more unusual in that the movie deals with the so-called 'werewolves'...a secret organization which carried out terrorist attacks in Germany towards the end of the war. It was intended to slow the Allied advance into German territory. However, SOME were crazed enough to continue these tactics AFTER Germany surrendered...spreading terror in the hope, the insane hope, that they could recreate fascism in Germany!
The story begins just before the war ends. Sergeant Brent (James Best) is involved in urban warfare and is shot and wounded. He awakens to find a German woman, Helga (Susan Cummings), has taken him in and tended to his wounds. He's naturally grateful...so much that he decides to remain in Germany after the war has ended. But he also wants to marry the woman who saved him...and fraternization with locals is prohibited in the US military. He gets around this by resigning and working as a civilian for the new US occupying force.
In the meantime, there is a strong presence in this German town of werewolf wannabes. Little does Brent realize that some of the werewolves include Helga's brother and friend! What does this mean for the marriage of Brent and Helga? Does she love him or is she using him?
While James Best is best known for "The Dukes of Hazard" and guest appearances on various shows, such as "The Andy Griffith Show", he gets a rare chance here to play the leading man. And, he shows himself to be very competent in such roles...and it makes you wish he'd had more opportunities to star in movies. This shows how Sam Fuller had a knack for taking supporting actors and using them to star in his films (such as Gene Nelson in "The Steel Helmet"). Most of this probably was because Fuller rarely had large budgets and he needed to make due with limited options...and he became famous for this economy in his productions.
Overall, this is another excellent Fuller film...and as he often did, he wrote, directed and produced the picture. It also does NOT run from controversy but addresses it directly...and this makes for some excitement and tension later in the story. My only complaint is the extensive use of stock cinematography. Too often, it's scratchy and too obviously stock footage, though SOME was appropriate (such as showing the concentration camp footage).
The story begins just before the war ends. Sergeant Brent (James Best) is involved in urban warfare and is shot and wounded. He awakens to find a German woman, Helga (Susan Cummings), has taken him in and tended to his wounds. He's naturally grateful...so much that he decides to remain in Germany after the war has ended. But he also wants to marry the woman who saved him...and fraternization with locals is prohibited in the US military. He gets around this by resigning and working as a civilian for the new US occupying force.
In the meantime, there is a strong presence in this German town of werewolf wannabes. Little does Brent realize that some of the werewolves include Helga's brother and friend! What does this mean for the marriage of Brent and Helga? Does she love him or is she using him?
While James Best is best known for "The Dukes of Hazard" and guest appearances on various shows, such as "The Andy Griffith Show", he gets a rare chance here to play the leading man. And, he shows himself to be very competent in such roles...and it makes you wish he'd had more opportunities to star in movies. This shows how Sam Fuller had a knack for taking supporting actors and using them to star in his films (such as Gene Nelson in "The Steel Helmet"). Most of this probably was because Fuller rarely had large budgets and he needed to make due with limited options...and he became famous for this economy in his productions.
Overall, this is another excellent Fuller film...and as he often did, he wrote, directed and produced the picture. It also does NOT run from controversy but addresses it directly...and this makes for some excitement and tension later in the story. My only complaint is the extensive use of stock cinematography. Too often, it's scratchy and too obviously stock footage, though SOME was appropriate (such as showing the concentration camp footage).