User Reviews

"Spuren des Bösen" or "Traces of Evil" is a German/Austrian television film from 2010 and this one was as big of a success that several sequels followed and the series itself is also called "Spuren des Bösen" now while this first installment also has the title "Das Verhör" / "The Interrogation". It runs for pretty much exactly 1.5 hours as German TV films usually do and it was made by the successful duo Prochaska and Armbrosch who worked together on several other projects too like for example "Das finstere Tal", one of the most known German-language films from recent years. But back to this one here: Heino Ferch plays the central character here, a man similar to Horst Schimanski, suffering inside, but a strong alpha male and a bit of a line wolf character too. And while I've been critical on Ferch in other projects, I must say that the character here suits him well (he sure is a Brocken), even if Ferch does not really bring anything other than his usual routine here. But it works nonetheless thanks to the competent script and execution that really only has small weaknesses like how they left the gun to the bad guy at the very end. The writer played nicely with the audiences by fooling them into thinking another much less likable guy was the serial killer and the beginning at the auditorium just like the ending at the interrogation room were very nice. Everything in-between was okay too I guess, even if I must say I found the female central character quite forgettable, but I am not surprised this series is still going strong after all these years. I hope they also managed to keep the quality on a high level like in this one here, but I trust Prochaska in mastering this difficult challenge. The way how it all started for Brock gets a thumbs-up from me. Not a must-see by any means, but if you like crime thrillers and don't mind getting subtitles if you don't speak German, then this one is very much worth checking out.