Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue) (1971)

33% of users liked it
(181 ratings)

The fourth film to explore Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale, this clever adaptation takes some rather broad liberties with the source material. A flamboyant Jason Robards plays Cesar Charron, owner of a Grand Guignol theatre in 19th-century Paris, who is launching a stage adaptation of "Murders in the… More The fourth film to explore Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale, this clever adaptation takes some rather broad liberties with the source material. A flamboyant Jason Robards plays Cesar Charron, owner of a Grand Guignol theatre in 19th-century Paris, who is launching a stage adaptation of "Murders in the Rue Morgue" -- much to the dismay of his young daughter Madeleine (Christine Kaufmann), who is tormented by nightmares filled with images from the play. A spate of gruesome murders among the theatre's regular stable of actors leads Charron to suspect the return of his deranged, disfigured former partner René Marot (Herbert Lom), who had been presumed dead after the murder of Charron's wife. Madeleine's nightmares eventually come true when Marot makes his presence known and reveals his intentions to her on the eve of the production's opening night. Director Gordon Hessler's creative handling of the dreams-vs.reality premise is rendered a bit confusing thanks to AIP's sloppy re-editing, but the overall production is still effectively chilling. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: Gordon Hessler
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Sep 1, 1971 Wide

Critic Reviews

Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Seek out the 1932 film.
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
Edgar Allen Poe gets no respect.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Tim S

This supposed adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe original story was released in 1971 and stars Jason Robards. Murders in the Rue Morgue is definitely not a straight adaptation of the original material. The only things I see present that I can remember from the original story are the… More
This supposed adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe original story was released in 1971 and stars Jason Robards. Murders in the Rue Morgue is definitely not a straight adaptation of the original material. The only things I see present that I can remember from the original story are the presence of detectives and a large gorilla, but in this case the gorilla is a man in a suit. The story is about a theatre troupe that seems to be having bad luck when it comes to murder. One by one, they're picked off as Robards' daughter, played by Christine Kaufmann, continues to have strange dreams about the murderer as she sees a mysterious figure in cape, cowl and mask lurking about. Sounds a lot like Phantom of the Opera huh? In natural fact, it is, and not in a good way either. This movie is so appalingly stilted and boring, right down to Jason Robards' lifeless performance. He sounds like a broken record too, constantly repeating things like "This is impossible!" There isn't much good to say about the movie really, so I won't bother trying. I saw this on an MGM Double Feature DVD, and this was miles below the quality of the other film in that set.
jay n

Two very good actors, Jason Robards Jr and Lilli Palmer, are marooned in this subpar version of the Poe story. For the most part poorly adapted and acted as well as being badly dubbed this could most definitely be skipped.