Though entire scenes and lines of dialogue are lifted almost verbatim and set design (e.g. the water tank) as well as certain directorial ideas (such as the reflections in a pair of dark glasses) look more than familiar, Der Gorilla von Soho/The Gorilla Gang (1968) eliminated the entire main plot line involving a gang of blind beggars. Instead of messages in Braille, the corpses now carry small dolls with African writing, leading Insp. David Perkins (Horst Tappert) and Sgt. Jim Pepper (Uwe Friedrichsen) with the help of Susan McPherson (Uschi Glas) to The Gorilla Gang whose main henchman operates in a gorilla costume right in the middle of London.
Which admittedly is pretty ridiculous even within the Edgar Wallace universe that thrives on masked villains.
The film also features nudity and a workhouse for young women replaces the home for the blind in the original.
Whereas Dead Eyes of London is a classic within this genre, The Gorilla Gang lacks any of that movie’s moodiness and mystery and replaces it with a brightly coloured mix of silliness that makes it fun to watch even though one would be hard pressed to call it genuinely good.
The investigating team of Perkins and Pepper would return in the next Rialto Wallace, Der Mann mit dem Glasauge/The Man With the Glass Eye (1968), yet another remake (of sorts). In that film Sgt. Pepper would, however, be portrayed by Stefan Behrens.
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