Murders in the Rue Morgue – 1971
Director
Gordon Hessler

Writers
Edgar Allan Poe (story)
Christopher Wicking

Cast
Jason Robards
Herbert Lom
Christine Kaufmann

Review by Wayne Malin

Colourful but dull,

Players at a Paris theatre (run by Jason Robards) become victims of a masked murderer (Herbert Lom). I saw a brand new print of this so the colors were rich and strong…that’s about it for compliments. The movie was very obviously filmed in Spain and has erratic performances (even by pros Robards and Lom).

Leading lady Christine Kaufmann is a really terrible actress and keeps having the same stupid dream again and again and again and again etc etc. The film is slow-moving, repititious, has lousy make-up (Lom seems to be wearing the exact same face he had in “Phantom of the Opera” in 1964) and the most boring murders ever put on screen…no gore and very little blood.

Stick with the 1932 Lugosi version.