DER MANN NEBENAN

GER
1991
1hr 53mins
Dir: Petra Haffter
Starring: Uwe Bohm and Sophie Ward

Police set out to track down a notorious strangler

This German crime film was never released in the UK, but it was released in the US in 1992 under the title A Demon in My View, the name of the 1974 Ruth Rendell novel on which it is based. Whatever the title, it is not a particularly good adaptation, though it does feature quite a few railway shots. A pair of Class 312 EMUs head north on the curved viaduct at Bethnal Green during the opening credits, which is complimented by several shots of other trains towards the end of the film. Anthony Perkins commits a murder as what appears to be an NSE liveried multiple unit passes at speed immediately parallel to the path he and his victim are on; this was filmed adjacent to the West Coast main line at Willesden Junction. Later, we see a Class 317 entering Bethnal Green from the north at dusk followed shortly by a shot of a Class 308 EMU crossing the Regents Canal close to Rhodeswell Road. There is also a shot of the entrance to Kentish Town Underground station on the Northern line. The German title of the film ‘Der Mann Nebenan’ translates as ‘The Man Next Door’. Thanks to Patrick Lavelli for providing me with information about the film and its scenes.

This opening shot appears to show a pair of Class 312 EMUs heading along the viaduct carrying the line to Hackney Downs immediately to the east of Bethnal Green station. The road is Three Colts Lane and although the railway arches remain today, the area surrounding it has been radically redeveloped.
The entrance to Kentish Town Underground station on Kentish Town Road, London NW5
This is the footpath adjacent to the West Coast main line at Willesden Junction. It gives access to Willesden depot and the Salter Street footbridge, a very popular spotting location where the author has whiled away many a happy hour in the past!! The two bridges at the top of the shot carry the North London Lines over the WCML.
A Class 317 EMU approaches Bethnal Green station at dusk (or is it dawn?)
This is the junction of Turners Road with Rhodeswell Road, London E3, and the grafitti became a very well known and popular slogan that made a change to the usual political rants of the day. The Class 308 EMU is crossing the Regents Canal on the LT&S route between Limehouse and Bromley-by-Bow. It appears to still be in blue and grey livery, but its colouring is somewhat indistinguishable.