Steckerlfisch fiasco review: Eberhofer dances the tree

The residents of Niederkaltenkirchen have been hiding from us for three years, but thanks to the “Steckerlfisch fiasco” they are finally stepping back into the spotlight. The latest crime victim in Lower Bavaria is a fish king, who, however, was not stabbed with a fish plug, but rather had a hard object hit his head in the shower at the new golf course. (Incidentally, this murdered person is played by a not entirely unknown person who usually likes to do his own investigation.)

Annoyed Eberhofer

Of course, Eberhofer’s (Sebastian Bezzel) private life once again takes on a broad base: Susi (Lisa Maria Potthoff) flirts with the mayor’s office and leaves completely in the election campaign, which really annoys Franz; Grandma (Enzi Fuchs), on the other hand, goes away for a treatment and leaves behind a Hungarian household helper (Lara Mandoki), who especially turns the heads of Eberhofer Senior (Eisi Gulp) and Leopold (Gerhard Wittmann). Eberhofer himself feels more attracted to the dead man’s daughter (Rubi O. Fee), which could of course affect his ability to judge when solving the crime.

Grumpy Rudi

Luckily, he has Birkenberger at his side again as an indispensable partner, although you can hardly recognize Rudi at first glance: this time he has a long-haired, dirty look (from a purely external perspective, Simon Schwarz would be the perfect candidate if you ever plan to resurrect the Mundl). In the previous part, Rudi almost drowned in a cesspool – this unpleasant fate could be averted, but he apparently saved the smell from back then, because he smells throughout the entire film and is constantly buzzed around by an AI (?) fly. One can only be glad that “Steckerlfischfiasko” was not filmed as a smell cinema in Smell-O-Vision.

Title tip

Franz and all the others are still very old, but with the youngest participants you can see how much time flies. Son Pauli (Pelle Küffner) has grown significantly taller and, in addition to having a strong ecological awareness, has also taken on a somewhat unusual hobby, which requires him to slip into a so-called tutu to practice it. The dad doesn’t really like that, but at a crucial moment he will still be there to support his offspring. (A little tip for amateur detectives: The title of this review was carefully chosen so that it provides an important clue on this point.)

Almost cliffhanger

After the somewhat crudely implemented story of the ninth film “Rendezvous with Venison”, which Rita Falk didn’t really enjoy, this time they are obviously trying to be more serious, which may also be due to the election campaign theme and the noble environment of the golf club. There is also a fairly balanced relationship between the appearance times given to the numerous characters. Earlier parts may often have been more spectacular, weirder, more action-packed, wilder or even more gruesome – but that’s not always necessary. In any case, “Steckerlfischfiasko” turns out to be a solid Eberhofer crime novel that almost ends with a cliffhanger before a headline gives us some insight. After this important development, it cannot possibly be over and the celebratory series of 10 films can be extended by an 11th.

3 ½ out of 5 slugs rescued