Jason Robards

Herbert Lom

Christine Kaufmann

Adolfo Celi

Maria Perschy

Michael Dunn

Lilli Palmer

Peter Arne

Rosalind Elliot

Marshall Jones

María Martín

Ruth Plattes

Rafael Hernández

Pamela McInnes

Sally Longley

Luis Rivera

Dean Selmier

Virginia Stach

Werner Umberg

Xan das Bolas

Brooke Adams

José Calvo

Inma de Santis

Víctor Israel

Emile Stemmler

Gordon Hessler

Edgar Allan Poe

James H. Nicholson

Louis M. Heyward

Clifford Parkes

Max Benedict

Tony Pueo

Samuel Z. Arkoff

Waldo de los Ríos

Christopher Wicking

Henry Slesar

Manuel Berenguer

José Luis Galicia

Roberto Roberts

Wally Milner

Luis Hernanz

Carmen Martín

Carmen Sánchez

Jack H. Young

Kuki López Rodero

Francisco Ramón Ferrer

Enrique Molinero

Oliver Waterlow

Rosa Biadiu

Nehama Milner

Salvador Gil

Dennison Thornton

Anne Parsons

Denise O'Dell

Crime

Horror

Thriller

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Murders in the Rue Morgue

American International Pictures

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

prostitute

paris, france

england

psychopath

haunted house

phantom

hypnosis

buried alive

murder

decapitation

whodunit

grand guignol

axe murder

stage production

In the extra on my Blu-ray of the film, director Hessler states he was upset with Jason Robards' performance in the title role and laments he didn't get to inherit Vincent Price as the film's star when he was asked to direct it. In watching, I quite agree that as fine an actor as Robards was, his heart wasn't in horror and thus his tone is off here. Still, Herbert Lom is great as the antagonist and there are many enjoyable wonders to behold.

I strongly feel that had Price acted in Robards' place, this film would have joined the fine string of minor masterpieces Price starred in during that purple patch of his career.

_**Poe mixed with Phantom of the Opera**_

At a Grand Guignol-like theater in turn-of-the-century Paris a troupe is beset by a shadowy acid killer. Jason Robards plays the director/actor, Christine Kaufmann his young wife, Lilli Palmer her mother, Herbert Lom a mysterious stalker, Michael Dunn a dubious dwarf and Adolfo Celi the inspector.  

“Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1971) is not a film version of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, which the viewer is keyed-off to right away with the revelation that the play featured at the theater _IS_ Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgan.” The director & writer decided to do something different because Poe’s story was so well known. This movie has more to do with “Phantom of the Opera.”   

Once you accept that, you can enjoy this AIP flick as a colorful Hammer-like Victorian horror similar to their Dracula or Frankenstein movies, albeit with a different “monster.” The ending features a twist that I found unconvincing, but at least it’s unexpected and shakes things up. Robards is relatively dull as the protagonist, which explains why he wanted Lom’s role. The part called for someone of Vincent Price’s magnetism.      

The original version of the film runs 1 hour, 38 minutes, which is the version I viewed. Eleven minutes were unfortunately cut for the US debut, which included the removal of sequences from the end of the film, e.g. a lot of Lilli Palmer’s scenes. Director Gordon Hessler objected to these edits, as well as the tinting of the flashback scenes on the grounds that the idea was NOT to tint them so that viewers wouldn't know when they’re seeing a dream sequence or perhaps a flashback or a flash-forward, which hadn't been done before. 

The movie was shot in Toledo and Madrid, Spain.

GRADE: C/C+

Murders in the Rue Morgue 1971 TV trailer

Gorden Hessler Interview #2 - Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)

Murders in the Rue Morgue Official Trailer #1 - Bert Roach Movie (1932) HD

Murders in the Rue Morgue( 1971)

LOVE and MURDER are the two consuming passions of the Rue Morgue!

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A review by talisencrw

Written by talisencrw on Sat Jun 25 2016

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