Wonderful mix of HEIMATFILM / homeland and GRUSELFILM / horror films with Ruth Niehaus and Armin Dahlen
Director Hans Heinz König and his producer brother Richard König made a very excellent film in 1952. However, the filming did not take place in the Lüneburg Heath, but in the area around Worpswede, in the Teufelsmoor and in the Wietingsmoor. The film is also known under the titles "Dorothee" (Austria) and "Rape on the Moor" (USA).
She just can't get rid of him: the beautiful Dorothee Aden (Ruth Niehaus) is harassed at every turn by the rude neighboring farmer Dietrich Eschmann (Hermann Schomberg). A real stalker before the word even existed! Mother (Hilde Körber) and father also have no understanding for Dorothee. So it's a good thing that the young architect Ludwig Amelung (very dashing: Armin Dahlen) comes home to the Heidedorf. The two young people soon fall deeply in love with each other. Old Eschmann takes his frustration out on his maid Fiete (Gisela von Collande), who willingly gives herself over to the wild guy. Dorothee is very moved by the story of the heath grave, which was created when the young Wilhelmina was violated by a Swedish soldier during the Thirty Years' War. In revenge for this crime and out of despair at the shame done to her, Wilhelmina lured the unsuspecting rapist to the moor to die there with him. Since then, a rose bush has been growing out of the grave. Things come to a terrible head when Eschmann also rapes the beautiful Dorothee on the heath. Now Dorothee falls more and more under Wilhelmina's spell...
What an excellent horror story! At the beginning of the 1950s, the German-speaking film industry built on the heyday of horror films (Dr. Caligari) from the Weimar Republic. "Alraune" with Hildegard Knef and ACADEMY AWARD nominee Erich von Stroheim was also created in those years. The combination of horror and local films was perfect for drawing attention to the dark sides of country life. This is how the German-language HEIMATFILM / homeland film should have continued! Unfortunately, the more pleasant approach in the spirit of the popular success "Schwarzwaldmädel" prevailed. Films like "ROSEN BLÜHEN AUF DEM HEIDEGRAB / Roses Bloom on the Heidegrab" were probably too dark for cinema audiences at the time.
It's even nicer to discover this classic now. Ruth Niehaus (1925-1994) and Armin Dahlen (1919-2013) make a beautiful couple who are able to carry this extremely watchable film.
