Murders in the Rue Morgue

Since the original Poe story had been done several times earlier, (Gordon) Hessler and (Christopher) Wicking decided to approach it at a different angle. Set in period France, the story centers on an acting troupe who perform Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" as a spectacular Grand Guignol-style stage play. The troupe is led by Cesar Charron (Jason Robards in one of his few exploitation roles) who is married to the much younger Madeleine (Christine Kaufmann). Madeleine keeps having strange, surreal dreams about an axe murderer and other macabre apparitions. In the meantime, members of the acting troupe are being nastily offed by the masked Rene Marot (Herbert Lom). Marot is believed to be dead, but he's alive and well and seeking revenge by pouring acid on anyone connected with his scarred appearance (leading to a bogus suicide) and his doomed relationship with Madeleine's late mother (Lilli Palmer).

Wicking's screenplay takes Poe's basic premise and injects some interesting ideas, while Hessler's direction is filled with atmosphere and makes outstanding use of dream sequences which make more sense in this longer cut of the film. Although Robards was an excellent actor, he seems out of place and uninterested here (one can only imagine what Vincent Price would have done with the part). Herbert Lom steals the show as the Phantom of the Opera-style killer, and there's some notable appearances by ex-Bond villain Adolfo Celi as a police inspector, dwarf actor Michael Dunn as Marot's creepy assistant, Lilli Palmer as Madeline's mother, and Spanish horror film regular Maria Perschy as a bordello hottie. Most of these characters play more significantly in this longer director's cut, and look carefully to spot a very young Brooke Adams (as a nurse) in a scene that was originally deleted altogether. By the way, this version also had a completely different (twist) ending then the 87-minute cut.