In 2025, Eureka produced a boxed set called “Terror in the Fog” that included six 1960s “krimi” (crime) films from the German CCC Film Studio. 2026’s “Adventure Calls” offers a sequel of sorts that concentrates on stories connected to the work of author Karl May, and 1964’s Old Shatterhand launches this package.

The US government plans to sign a treaty with the Apaches. However, outlaws work to ruin this process, so they hire Comanches to impersonate Apaches and kill white settlers.

This appears likely to scuttle the peace process. However, talented scout Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) doesn’t believe the Apaches did these deeds so he seeks to establish the truth.

The film starts in an odd way. Without any introduction, we see Shatterhand say goodbye to his Native American pal Winnetou (Pierre Brice), a scene that feels much more like the end of a tale than the beginning.

Granted, the brief sequence sets up a little exposition, and I suspect it exists to establish the connection between Shatterhand and Winnetou right off the bat. Still, it comes across as a potentially confusing way to begin a film.

Though probably not to audiences in 1964. Even though Shatterhand provides the oldest of the seven “Adventure Awaits” films, it came out as the third Karl May film to star Barker as Old Shatterhand and Brice as Winnetou.

Technically I don’t think we can consider Old Shatterhand to its two predecessors – 1962’s Treasure of Silver Lake and 1963’s Apache Gold because Constantin Film produced those two, not CCC. Still, the 1962 and 1963 films meant audiences already knew Barker and Brice as their respective roles.

Not that Shatterhand follows an especially clear path after that. Despite the implications of that plot synopsis, the movie tends to meander.

Indeed, Shatterhand often feels like a loosely connected collection of scenes more than a real narrative. Sure, it sporadically loops back to the main tale discussed above, but too much of the time, the film simply ambles from one Western sequence to another without much clarity.

Not that this makes Shatterhand an unpleasant or dull experience. The movie comes with reasonable action and intrigue.

It just rarely feels like an especially coherent film, and it comes across like a bunch of cinematic influences. Nothing about Shatterhand stands out from the crowded ranks of Westerns.

Well, other than a brief bit of full-frontal nudity from Daliah Lavi’s stunt double. Hollywood wouldn’t include shots like that until a few years later.

Otherwise, Hugo Fregonese directs Shatterhand in an unremarkable workman-like manner. The actors seem competent but uninspired.

Of course, we don’t find a single Native American actor anywhere in sight. Granted, that doesn’t seem out of the ordinary for the era, though at least Hollywood Westerns included some indigenous actors versus the Europeans in “redface” we find here.

I do like the film’s progressive viewpoint. Unlike most Westerns, it favors the Natives and points out the villainy of the white roles.

This apparently stems from Karl May’s work. Nonetheless, it seems pretty daring for the mid-1960s and this tone helps the film hold up better in terms of its politics.

Outside of this POV, Shatterhand delivers a mildly entertaining Western and nothing more. It comes, it goes, and the viewer seems unlikely to remember much about it the next day.

Old Shatterhand appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image held up well over the last 62 years.

Overall sharpness worked fine. The occasional wide shot showed some softness, but the majority of the film boasted appealing delineation.

Neither jaggies nor moiré effects became an issue, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt natural and the movie lacked print flaws.

As befit a Western – even one shot in Yugoslavia – the film’s palette opted for a sandy vibe, with blues at night. The colors seemed well-reproduced.

Blacks came across as deep and outside of a few inevitably thick day for night shots, shadows looked smooth. I felt pleased with this solid scan.

Unsurprisingly, the film’s LPCM monaural audio showed more problems than the visuals. However, it remained adequate.

Speech could lean a bit edgy at times. Nonetheless, dialogue remained fairly concise and without real issues.

Neither music nor effects demonstrated great range, but they also lacked notable distortion. Again, nothing about the mix impressed, but I felt it worked fine for its age and origins.

Note that the disc also provided an LPCM monaural English version of Old Shatterhand - well, kind of. The “English” track lapsed into German on more than a few occasions.

Both German and English versions used voice actors and not original cast, so neither offered a more “legitimate” rendition. I thought the German seemed better acted but not by a significant margin.

Beyond the weird mix of English and German, this mix suffered from sonic anomalies. Quality turned into a mild step down from the purely German version, and some scenes demonstrated awkward lapses that went from fairly natural audio to distant and tinny.

Given that so much of the “English” track still used German dialogue, this version became nearly useless. Folks will need to activate subtitles anyway so I see no reason to bother with the weaker quality and performances.

As we head to extras, we open with an audio commentary from film historian David Kalat. He provides a running, screen-specific look at author Karl May, his works and their adaptation, genre domains, cast and crew, production specifics and related areas.

Expect a simply terrific chat from Kalat. He offers a splendid look at all these relevant topics and does so with enough verve and clarity to ensure we learn a ton about the flick across his two-hour chat.

An introduction from film historian Sir Christopher Frayling runs 25 minutes, five seconds and provides Frayling’s notes about author Karl May as well as elements of those works and their cinematic adaptations. Inevitably Frayling repeats some info from Kalat's excellent commentary but he nonetheless brings enough new thoughts to make this reel worth a look.

Making Old Shatterhand goes for 17 minutes, 44 seconds. It brings remarks from producer Artur Brauner, publisher Bernhard Schmid, "witness" Milijenko Marasovic, set designer Vladimir Tadej and actors Rik Battaglia and Ralf Wolter.

The show examines the film's path to the screen, cast and performances, aspects of the shoot, music, and sequels. Though brief, we get some useful info here, and the presence of now-deceased movie participants helps.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a brief featurette about actor Daliah Lavi that goes for two minutes, 26 seconds and provides a circa 1960s chat with Lavi about her musical career. It has nothing to do with Old Shatterhand but it offers a historical curiosity.

The set also includes a 64-page book that provides photos, credits and four essays. It becomes a satisfying complement.

A Western made by Germans, Old Shatterhand feels like a compilation of genre tropes. While it manages decent entertainment, it never turns into anything special. The Blu-ray comes with very good visuals, acceptable audio and a few bonus informative features. Western fans could do worse than Old Shatterhand but they could do better as well.

Note that as of April 2026, this Blu-ray for Old Shatterhand comes only as part of a seven-film collection called “Adventure Calls”. It also includes fellow 1960s Karl May-based productions Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death, The Shoot, Through Wild Kurdistan, In the Kingdom of the Silver Lion, The Treasure of the Aztecs and The Pyramid of the Sun God.