Murder on Rue Morgue (1971)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Murder on the Rue Morgue |
| Original title | Murders in the Rue Morgue |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1971 |
| length | 87, 94 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gordon Hessler |
| script |
Christopher Wicking Henry Slesar |
| production | Louis M. Heyward |
| music | Waldo de los Ríos |
| camera | Manuel Berenguer |
| cut | Max Benedict |
| occupation | |
as well as Rafael Hernández , Pamela McInnes , Sally Longley , John Mansell and Werner Umberg as members of the acting troupe | |
Murders in the Rue Morgue is an American horror film from 1971. Directed by Gordon Hessler play Jason Robards , Herbert Lom and Christine Kaufmann , the lead roles.
action
The story takes place in France, shortly after the turn of the century. The theater troupe of César Charron has specialized in the curious, sensational audience and presents with its bloodthirsty pieces powerful and nerve-racking horror theater, completely in the tradition of the Grand Guignol . The latest sensation is the performance of Edgar Allan Poe's horror story Murder in the Rue Morgue . César's wife Madeleine, whose mother was killed twelve years ago, is said to play the leading role. But since the violent death of her mother, Madeleine has suffered from serious nightmares, in which an ax-wielding murderer appears again and again. Madeleine once fainted during a performance. Several members of this theater are now being murdered by acid attacks. The police quickly assumed in the form of Inspecteur Vidocq that only the former lover of Madeleine's mother, René Marot, could be the perpetrator. But there is a catch: Marot has long been dead. Madeleine's mother once burned his face with acid before he killed her. Marot himself is said to have committed suicide shortly afterwards.
But Marot is not dead and masked and hides well. His face is terribly misshapen from the burns caused by Madeleine's mother. He has returned to the place of horror and now wants to take revenge for all the hardships experienced on his own body. And so he begins his bloody and murderous craft. One member and ex-member of the drama troupe after another becomes his victim. Madeleine, the daughter of the woman Marot once desired, is also the focus of his vengeance campaign. He wants to save it for his bloody finale. Monsieur Vidocq intervenes and initially directs his attention to theater director César when looking for the perpetrator, but through Madeleine's strongly visualized dreams, one can finally track down the real perpetrator. In the furious finale, René Marot can no longer escape his fate and has to atone for all his murders.
Production notes
Murder on Rue Morgue was filmed from October 1970 in Toledo and the Teatro de Rojas in Toledo as well as in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, in Colmenar Viejo and other parts of Madrid (all Spain) and was first released in the USA in September 1971. The film was never shown in Germany, but was released on May 30, 1987 as a VHS video.
As production managers, Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson were jointly responsible for production. José Luis Galicia designed the film structures, Tony Pueo the Belle Epoque costumes.
Horror film star Vincent Price originally wanted the role of Robards, but the producers did not consider it for reasons that were not known.
The film has only very little to do with Edgar Allan Poe's horror story The Double Murder on Rue Morgue .
Reviews
Howard Thompson wrote in the New York Times : “The entire film is a wonderful sight in excellent color, with lavish décor and costumes from the period and costumes and some perfect dream-picture sequences. And under Gordon Hessler's intelligent direction, the tension intensifies, thanks in part to some enigmatic characters. Two in particular are played well by Herbert Lom and Michael Dunn. "
The Movie & Video Guide called the film a “sensational rework”.
"A solid staging without any particular highlights."
Halliwell's Film Guide found the film to be "a playful horror story that has more to do with 'The Phantom of the Opera' than Poe". Nevertheless: "a nice pastime for fans".
Individual evidence
- ^ Review in The New York Times, February 3, 1972
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 894
- ↑ Murder on Rue Morgue in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on October 7, 2018
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 703
Web links
- Murders in the Rue Morgue in the Internet Movie Database (English)