THE ROSARY MURDERS

Wary in the confessional: Donald Sutherland

THE ROSARY MURDERS (1987). Director: Fred Walton.

"We're saving souls -- not lives."

Father Robert Koesler (Donald Sutherland of Invasion of the Body Snatchers) discovers that someone is targeting members of the clergy, shooting a priest and faking a nun's suicide. In a steal from Hitchcock's I Confess, the killer confronts Father Koesler in the confessional, and after surviving the encounter, the priest does his own investigation. He learns who the killer probably is but doesn't inform the police, not wishing to betray the sanctity of the confessional. (While it makes sense that a more conservative priest, like Father Nabors, played by Charles Durning of Sisters, would adhere to canonical law, Koesler is portrayed as being more liberal.) Because of his inaction, there are several more deaths, for which Lt. Koznicki (Josef Sommers) clearly blames him. 

Charles Durning

The Rosary Murders, based on the novel by former priest William X. Kienzle, has an interesting storyline, but there's something strangely unsatisfying about the movie. The film is directed by Fred Walton, best known for When a Stranger Calls -- he also co-wrote the screenplay with Elmore Leonard -- but you get the feeling that he's holding back, that he really wanted to craft an all-out horror film instead of a suspense picture, but felt too restricted. There are a couple of creepy scenes in the movie, but a kind of almost amateurish sheen that makes the whole project seem second-rate, despite its good points and the fact that it is fast-paced and absorbing. The movie completely lacks a sense of urgency, even though people, including police officers, are dropping like flies! (I would have loved to have seen what Italian giallo director Dario Argento could have done with this material!)

James Murtaugh

Another problem is that Donald Sutherland isn't well cast and gives an unremarkable performance, possibly because the character is irritating in some ways and contradictory. Durning is fine, as always, and James Murtaugh scores as a parishioner whose teenage daughter committed suicide. Belinda Bauer is given the thankless role of a reporter who becomes friends with Father Koesler and apparently falls in love with him -- one of the least convincing "romances" in the history of the movies ( and which should have been left on the cutting room floor). The movie at times seems vastly over-scored. Kienzle wrote many more books in the Father Koesler series, turning the priest into an amateur sleuth, and engendering the Protestant Reverend Randollph novels as well. 

Verdict: Intriguing plot carries this along despite deficiencies. ***.