Remove all of the boring slow-motion dream sequences from Murders in the Rue Morgue and you would only have a half a film, and that half would be pretty dull as well. Directed by Gordon Hessler, this Poe-inspired horror is tired clichéd nonsense that lacks the sensationalism required to mark it as worthwhile or memorable: the 'murders' of the title are mostly bloodless acid attacks (the victim's face smoking slightly after being splashed with a liquid), with a blink and you'll miss it axe-beheading in the final act.
Jason Robards plays theatre owner Cesar Charron, who produces 'Grand Guignol' adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe's plays. When members of his troupe, past and present, are murdered, Inspector Vidocq (Adolfo Celi) investigates, and suspects that presumed dead thesp Rene Marot (Herbert Lom) is responsible. But how can Marot be alive and what is his motive? Meanwhile, Cesar's young wife Madeleine (Christine Kaufmann) suffers from recurring nightmares, possibly brought on by the fact that her husband was previously married to her deceased mother (that kind of thing is bound to disturb!).
The film is colourful, with better-than-expected production design (the costumes deserve special mention), but the pace is slow, the plot uninspired, and there are some terrible performances: Robards is miscast, and Kaufmann's wooden-ness is only matched by Rosalind Elliot as her maid Gabrielle (when the pair are in a scene together, the viewer is in danger of getting splinters). Lom is acceptable as the acid-scarred Marot, but American International regular Vincent Price would have been a far better choice, giving the character some real pizazz; the film would have also benefitted from far more creative and bloodier death scenes.
And while I am all for the presence of a creepy dwarf in a horror movie, Marot's diminutive sidekick Pierre Triboulet (Michael Dunn) isn't anywhere near as threatening as intended: one swift kick and he'd be in orbit.
3/10.
Jason Robards plays theatre owner Cesar Charron, who produces 'Grand Guignol' adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe's plays. When members of his troupe, past and present, are murdered, Inspector Vidocq (Adolfo Celi) investigates, and suspects that presumed dead thesp Rene Marot (Herbert Lom) is responsible. But how can Marot be alive and what is his motive? Meanwhile, Cesar's young wife Madeleine (Christine Kaufmann) suffers from recurring nightmares, possibly brought on by the fact that her husband was previously married to her deceased mother (that kind of thing is bound to disturb!).
The film is colourful, with better-than-expected production design (the costumes deserve special mention), but the pace is slow, the plot uninspired, and there are some terrible performances: Robards is miscast, and Kaufmann's wooden-ness is only matched by Rosalind Elliot as her maid Gabrielle (when the pair are in a scene together, the viewer is in danger of getting splinters). Lom is acceptable as the acid-scarred Marot, but American International regular Vincent Price would have been a far better choice, giving the character some real pizazz; the film would have also benefitted from far more creative and bloodier death scenes.
And while I am all for the presence of a creepy dwarf in a horror movie, Marot's diminutive sidekick Pierre Triboulet (Michael Dunn) isn't anywhere near as threatening as intended: one swift kick and he'd be in orbit.
3/10.