Christine Kaufmann and Jason Robards |
In Paris around the turn of the century, Cesar Charron (Jason Robards of Philadelphia) runs a Grand Guignol theater that nightly presents an adaption of Poe's story "Murders in the Rue Morgue." First the actor playing the orangutan is murdered with acid, and then more people who used to work for Charron, including an actress turned prostitute and an escape artist, are killed the same way. Charron fears that the killer is a former associate, Rene Marot (Herbert Lom), whose faced was once disfigured with acid and who supposedly took out his anger by axing the woman he loved (Lilli Palmer). Marot committed suicide and Charron transferred his affections from the dead woman to her daughter, Madeleine (Christine Kaufmann of Constantine and the Cross), whom he later married. But if Marot is truly dead, how can he be the killer? This is also a question for Inspector Vidocq (Adolfo Celi).
Herbert Lom and Christine Kaufmann |
Verdict: Highly disappointing horror film, which is no better than the 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue with Bela Lugosi. *1/2.
2 comments:
I saw that this was on TCM recently, and missed recording it. Great cast--Robards and Lom are both amazing actors. Too bad this one isn't better.
-C
Yes, it is a major disappointment. Robards simply seems disinterested -- not the right material for him in any case. I think some "serious" actors have a horror -- pun intended -- of winding up typecast as horror stars, although others, like Vinnie Price, welcome the revenue!
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