Rainer Erler

Director

August 26, 1933 (90 years)

† November 8, 2023

Munich, Germany

Biography

Rainer Erler was a German writer, director and film producer. Erler was considered a major maker of German science fiction films and of science fiction on television, as well as the founder of the science thriller subgenre (explosive social, political and scientific themes are presented in a suspenseful way). Erler's films often dealt with controversial social issues such as nuclear energy, nuclear waste, ethics in scientific research, genetic manipulation or organ trafficking. Many films provo…

Filmography

4.0

Das Blaue Palais

Das Blaue Palais is a series of five TV feature films written and directed by German author and filmmaker Rainer Erler. All five stories about the research and findings of an interdisciplinary scientific project have also been published as novels by Goldmann in 1978, 1979 and 1980. The series had an international cast. It was shot in Bavaria, Scotland, USA and Asia.

6.8

The Haunted Castle

The ghosts of thieves help a beautiful young countess save her inherited castle from modern developers in this comic horror/musical.

9.0

Die Kaltenbach-Papiere

Three nuclear warheads, the ultimate weapon for terror, blackmailing and mass destruction, are on their way to their final destination in North Africa. Two journalists, Tom Severin and his wife Eva, together with Sharon, weapon dealer Kaltenbach’s daughter, try to stop the deadly cargo.

6.2

Spare Parts

Honeymooning couple Monica and Mike check into a motel in New Mexico. All seems normal until an ambulance pulls up and abducts Mike. Monica narrowly escapes and, with the help of truck driver Bill, discovers the awful secret of the motel and the ambulance service.

8.0

People in the Net

Espionage thriller about a married couple caught in the middle of dueling spy organisations.

10.0

The Mysterious Magician

The sister of a famous, but as yet uncaught, criminal named The Hexer is murdered. Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard believes that The Hexer will surface to take his revenge on his sister's killers, and plans to set a trap to finally capture him. However, soon bodies start piling up, and it looks as if The Hexer may get away yet again.

4.9

Operation Ganymed

A spaceship returns to Earth after several years of space exploration and finds it desolate. Landing in what they believe is Mexico, the crew decides to travel north, and try to find out what happened to Earth during the years they were gone.

3.8

News Report on a Journey to a Bright Future

The wife of a reporter, who turned up missing while investigating reports of illegal toxic dumping, teams up with a photographer to find her husband.

8.0

A Guru Comes

"A Guru Comes" - A failed opera singer rises to the leader of a new religious community. Satirical film about the new religious movements of the 1970s and 1980s.

7.5

Der Bauerndoktor von Bayrischzell

In spite of his blustering manner and his refusal to listen to what the patients have to say, Dr. Doppelsieder is highly respected in the Upper Bavarian town of Bayrischzell, because he (almost) always has the right remedy and effective advice ready for the sick. The only person he can't help is Pfundtner, the rich Guldenhof farmer. He wants a remedy that, after seven daughters, will finally help him and his wife to the longed-for farm inheritance.

9.0

Das schöne Ende dieser Welt

Chemist Michael Brandt travels to Western Australia on behalf of a great German company. Pretending to be a private investor he purchases industrial real estate for a pesticide factory - chemicals which have long been on the forbidden list in Europe and in the U.S. but make huge profit on sales in Third World Countries.

9.0

Die Halde

On his wanderings, Tom meets young Lizzi and accompanies her to the vacation resort "Im Sonnengrund". The residents there are threatened by a huge garbage dump that will bury them all.

7.0

Illusion in Moll

After the death of her wealthy but lonely husband, wealthy but lonely hotel owner Maria Alsbacher falls in love with a charming bandleader and singer without realizing that he is only after her money. When she decides to marry him, her son enlists the help of his tragically ill fiancée, Lydia, to unmask this man for the villain he really is.

6.1

The Delegation

Journalist Will Roczinsky is dead. He was investigating UFO sightings. A TV broadcast summarizes the events up to his death. When broadcast at the time, viewers believed to be watching a documentary instead of a teleplay.

8.5

Die Quelle

A sailing boat takes package tourists in a party mood to various Spanish islands. One of them is desert-like, barren and barely habitable. Away from a small village stands an abandoned, dilapidated villa. It arouses the curiosity of Wolf, a young man in his mid-thirties. He spontaneously has the idea of buying it as a vacation home. So, gripped by a thirst for adventure, he stays behind on the island alone to make detailed inquiries. However, he has no idea that the few inhabitants of the island have mistaken him for the heir to the villa. But before he can clear up the misunderstanding and uncover the secret of the only freshwater well hidden in this house, a nightmare begins: he becomes embroiled in a fight to the death...

9.0

Orden für die Wunderkinder

A retirement home. An elderly gentleman is conversing with a paralyzed countess. When she asks him why he was awarded the title of advisor and an order, Ziegler modestly replies, "For services to the fatherland and the people." The scene changes, and we see Ziegler no longer in the retirement home, but behind bars. After serving his sentence for defrauding gullible women seeking to get married, the marriage swindler Ziegler accidentally finds himself at the award ceremony. Realizing how attractive the order is to wealthy individuals who have not yet taken their place among the elite, Ziegler decides to end his dangerous and not-so-lucrative "business." He searches his address book for the names of wealthy fellow citizens and, using forged forms, informs them that they will soon be awarded an order and that they must pay 750 marks to cover the costs of the ceremony...

10.0

Professor Columbus

An old librarian, Professor Columbus, wants to go to the sea once in his lifetime. So he buys a big ship and takes a boat trip across the North Sea to London, accompanied by a bunch of stoned hippies, and chased by the police.

10.0

Hotel Allotria

Four young musicians from Hamburg are heading to a hotel in Upper Bavaria. Three lively young women are also on their way there. No wonder the hotel, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, is coming back to life. Max, Franz, Egon, and Paul—four young musicians from Hamburg—are heading to a hotel in Upper Bavaria to meet Max’s fiancée.

3.7

The Last Holidays

A young woman is going on holiday with her parents. She narrowly escapes when her holiday fling tries to kill her, only to find out that this nasty encounter was not quite as accidental as it first seemed.

7.5

Plutonium

Camouflaged as a political suspense documentary, Plutonium demonstrates the theft of highly enriched nuclear material from a Third World Country nuclear power plant - enough for five bombs of the Hiroshima type. Is this material now in the hands of terrorists – or in the possession of a brutal and inhuman dictatorship?