Der Sandmann (1995)

The young, ambitious television editor Ina Littmann gets the chance to research a TV segment independently for the first time, for the private broadcaster DTV’s talk show Eye to Eye. She is assigned to prepare a report on Henry Kupfer, a rehabilitated killer of prostitutes who spent eight years in prison for manslaughter and is now a bestselling author of books about serial killers. Kupfer is about to publish his new work, “The Cannibal.” The book is about a blacksmith who killed several children in the early 20th century and whose house Kupfer now lives in. During her research, Littmann learns of several recent murders of prostitutes that seem to have been committed in the same bestial manner as Kupfer’s murder back then. After discovering what she believes to be the most recent crime scene, she is convinced Kupfer is the killer. Littmann is therefore after a scoop. She intends to expose Kupfer on the live TV show Eye to Eye. However, she does not quite succeed, since Kupfer admits to none of the murders on camera. Later that evening, Kupfer visits Littmann at her apartment, ties her to her bed, threatens her with a razor—a weapon also used in the other murders—and begins cutting her clothes off. Suddenly, he cuts her free and explains that the whole thing was just a publicity stunt for his new book, thanking the terrified journalist for the publicity. Then his supposed last victim, who is actually his lover, drops by to pick him up.