MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1971)

Christine Kaufmann and Jason Robards

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1971). Director: Gordon Hessler.

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

Despite its intriguing plot, Murders in the Rue Morgue is not a very compelling nor entertaining picture. Robards doesn't seem to have any feel for this kind of material, and Lom is generally forced to run about in a mask and opera cape as if he were in out-takes from the 1962 version of Phantom of the Opera.  Lilli Palmer only appears in flashbacks and manages to retain her dignity. Michael Dunn adds a bit of flavor in his portrayal of Marot's friend, Pierre, but his role is never clearly defined. The story is good, the motive for the murders makes sense, but the picture is clumsy, disjointed, and at times almost laughable. After the main story is over and its revelations revealed, there is a long, slow and dull post-script with Madeleine being chased around in the theater that, if possible, sinks the picture even further.

Verdict: Highly disappointing horror film, which is no better than the 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue with Bela Lugosi. *1/2.