Murders in the Rue Morgue(1971):
In the world of horror films, where you aren't likely to ever find a complete guide to every genre movie ever made because of how many of the damn things that have been produced, it's common to look out for "Hidden Gems" and 'Unsung Masterpieces".
The bad thing about this is, considering how much the genre gets maligned, tons of shitty films get built up as classics. Even worse is when good films which were obscure at one time get continually touted as ''underrated'' even after finally being "Re-Discovered" and fucking worshipped for decades. Yes, yes, I know The Undying Monster and The Day the Earth Caught Fire are good movies, people, now fuck off. Don't even get me started on the 1941 Jekyll & Hyde again....
Well, this time I actually have unearthed a hidden gem; the 1971 Gordon Hessler film Murders in the Rue Morgue. This one is neither overrated or underrated, it's just so rarely discussed it hasn't had a chance to become either. Is it a good movie? Not really, but what it is, however, is a bizzare one. The plot is actually a straight-forward ripoff of The Phantom of the Opera, but the execution, my god....
For one, it's not an adaption of Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, but about a series of murders plaguing the cast of a production Poe's story at the Grand Guignol, and not only that, the play they put on during the opening scene is not even an adaption of Rue Morgue! It's an adaption of the 1932 Universal movie! There's a mad scientist, a heroine, and an ape named Erik! I have no idea if this is because Hessler hadn't read Poe's story and just decided to adapt the Universal film and assume it was faithful to the story, or if it was because the Universal movie was based off of a real life Grand Guignol production of Rue Morgue and Hessler was aiming for realism by making the play in his movie reference the play that was referenced by the Universal movie.
See? My head is already aching and this is just me explaining the opening scene.
So, regardless of whatever the hell the theatre is performing, we then follow the actor playing the ape offscreen. He's not the actor! He has the real actor trussed up in his closet and disfigured and killed with acid! What the---? The killer then makes his escape. Producer and star Cesar Charon(Jason Robards) is soon questioned by police inspector Vidocq(Adolfo Celi). Charon assures the inspector that the only one who could possibly desire to kill members of the troupe is long dead. This being a horror movie, how much do you suspect that Charon's reasonings are dead wrong? Nevertheless, Charon soon begins hunting down other members of the troupe to gather any possible information they might have.
So, inspite of the bizzare business with whatever the hell the play being put on is, this seems like it's going to be a fairly straight-forward murder mystery, right? Well, it is, until we meet Charon's daughter and co-star Madeleine, who is also his wife. Whaaa? Man, French parental laws were really fucked up in the 1800s. Oh yeah, Madeleine is also psychic! No, not psychotic, which is what she'd have to be in order to marry her own father, but psychic in that she sees visions of a man with an ax, a man descending a rope and has weird dreams of walking down a road in midday while talking to a mysterious gentleman whose face is only seen from a cab. Oh yes, and as we soon see, the man in the cab from the dream actually exists in real life. He's a midget.
Oh man, this film is like an endurance test of silly crap.
The midget is also the killer's henchman. We also learn that the mysterious killer is Rene Marot(Herbert Lom), an actor, who years ago, had acid thrown in his face while on stage in a scene where his character is hit in the face with (fake) acid. He then apparently killed Madeleine's mother and then poisoned himself. Marot actually faked his own death by learning a trick from a circus friend whose gimmick was faking death. He was buried alive and then clawed his way out from the ground. Now he's killing members of the troupe one by one. But of course, there's more and more weird nightmares in the film, and of course, the big twist that really isn't a twist.
Turns out Charon, our apparent hero, was really responsible for killing Madeleine's mother and disfiguring Marot. Maort beheads him. Marot then goes nuts and tries to rape(?) Madeleine, then falls to his death after a tedious chase scene. Then there's another twist. Or is it a dream? Or a play? Or was the whole film a dream? The hell with it. I give up.
Murders in the Rue Morgue is that rare film with one of the most simplest of stories but the most bizzare of executions. Plotwise, it's just a retread of The Phantom of the Opera crossed with Ten Little Indians. But the execution is just insane! What is the purpose of the dreams, anyway? How do they enhance the story? We don't get a single explanation. After the high point of the film and where it should have ended, with Marot confronting Charon, the real villain of the piece, and Marot maybe dying heroically or apologizing to Madeleine, it continues on and on, and then comes up with another twist! Hessler clearly doesn't know when to quit. It's like he wanted to pad out the time or something.
Even more infuriating is the treatment of the two villains. Marot should be a sympathetic figure, and Charon should be depicted as a vile snake in the grass who hides his true colors beneath a veneer of respectability. But no! Hessler goes out of his way to make Marot look like a conceited ham who deserved to be horribly disfigured and framed for the murder of the woman he loved! Charon is made to look like a concerned citizen who was justified in what he did and whose crime paled next to Marot's.
What the hell? It's okay to ruin a man's life, murder a woman, frame that man for it, drive him to (apparent) suicide, and then marry the woman's(your) daughter? But it's not okay to seek revenge for enduring such a horrible crime? What the hell kind of moral universe is this film set in? True, Marot isn't a completely sympathetic character because of all the innocents he kills during his vendetta, but man, he doesn't deserve to be treated as a total monster while the man who caused all this just gets killed and made to look like a victim. Then there's the bizzare chase sequence at the end. Marot screams that he's had vengeance, but "needs love" and gives chase to Madeleine. Why? Is it because Hessler is trying to show that vengeance just leaves you with an empty feeling? Or is it because Marot didn't have rape on his mind, but merely wanted to apologize to Madeleine and try to be the father he had wished he could be, even if he inevitably was hung for his killing spree? After all, we never learn whether Madeleine is Charon or Marot's daughter. This kind of motivation would have made for a touching scene, but Hessler just plays it as a "monster chases the heroine" scene with no depth or characterization at all.
Too bad. With a sense of moralism that actually made sense, and some decent characterization, this movie could really have been something great. Hessler's bizzare treatment of monster/villain motivations seem to be a recurring theme of his. In his other films, along with this one, namely The Oblong Box and Cry of the Banshee, all the monsters are tragic victims of evil people's schemes, but when they go on a rampage or seek revenge, they get portrayed as completely irredeemable villains and their tormentors are made to look like helpless victims who don't deserve to face punishment. What the hell is up with this philosophy? Sure, a lot of people are warped and consumed by vengeance, and I could see Hessler trying to make such a statement for religious reasons, but c'mon, allowing their tormentors to get away with their crimes is no less moral, especially since none of them have noticeably tried to reform. It's like saying it's okay to perpetrate evil, but wrong to try and avenge it. Either Hessler is one hell of a shitty writer, or he has one of the weirdest moral philosophies ever to be held by a human being and put on camera.
At this point, you probably think I hate this movie, but you know what? I don't. In fact, I want to watch it again. It's that rarity of rarities, a film which seems to be set in a completely alternate universe but which features a totally mundane(for horror films) plot. Nothing in this film works the way it does in real life. Character motivations, dreams, the police force, acid, theatre performances, it's just completely insane.
But that's not to say I didn't enjoy it's insanity.
For one, the cast is excellent. If you are going to cast an utter shithead of a human being with no redeeming qualities and ask us to see him as undeserving of his comeuppance, you better cast Jason Robards. If you are going to ask us to believe that a guy who marries a girl who may or may not be his own daughter, and who runs and stars in a Grand Guignol show, and lets this all be public knowlege but is still considered a respectable member of society, you better cast Jason Robards in that role. If you are going to cast a guy who appears to be the hero for the better part of a movie, then reveal him as the villain and kill him off with no drama, then Robards is your man. Robards's understated at times, over-the-top at others approach is perfect for the role. Adolfo Celi also adds a nice touch of wry humor as the Inspector, and one regrets his character wasn't the film's protagonist. Herbert Lom is a lot of fun as Marot, playing a more homicidal version of his character in the 1962 Phantom of the Opera. He even has the 'dwarf" assistant from that film too! Played by an actual dwarf this time. This is far from Lom's best performance, but he still is pretty good, and even manages a few moments of pathos. The rest of the cast is okay, nothing special though. The music in the film is also excellent.
Celi as the Inspector/only likeable character.
Oh, and I also have to mention two other things in this film that just really jump out at me. One is Marot's truly shitty-looking mask and scars. The mask is some oily, tape-like transparent thing that actually looks like a part of his face from a distance. It's so bad, it's not even the one used in any stills of the movie I can find! The scars look like cake icing, and guess what? They aren't even anywhere noticeable enough to cause much of a reaction! They simply ring around his eyes and some bits of his forehead. Give him a pair of thick framed glasses and a wide-brimmed hat, grow out his bangs, and no one would even notice Marot's scars! Even crazier, Marot seems to realize this too, and doesn't make much of his disguise, in fact, he doesn't seem to care, as he commits a good 90% of his murders in broad daylight in crowded public areas! What's the point of even having a mask then?
Don't get excited folks, it's not what it looks like in the movie.
The second thing about this film that gets me is this one, absolutely perfect murder sequence. A policeman chases Marot though a carnival and Marot gets on a Merry-Go-Round(A Marot-Go-Round?), and the policeman clings on the side of the it so he can get on. The machine spins around until both men are out of sight, then it spins around again and we see that Marot has gone but the policeman's throat has been slit as he hangs on one of the horses! That, my friends, is a well-done murder scene.
All in all, this is one crazy movie. It's tasteless, gory, resides in one of the most morally repulsive universes ever put to film, tries to be dreamlike and arty in all the wrong places and not a single thing in the film makes sense. It's not even about Murders in the Rue Morgue! It's about murders occuring during a production of Murders in the Rue Morgue! I know that the title was slapped on to appeal to Poe fans, but I still don't see how the film couldn't have been saleable as a Phantom of the Opera remake, it even takes place in France. Oh well. Still, as far as hidden gems go, this film is one indeed. Just a completely fucked up one. I still highly reccomend it, because you aren't quite likely to see anything quite like it any time soon.
Oh, did I mention that there was a film made in 1954 called Phantom of the Rue Morgue? It doesn't have a Phantom, but this one does. What's up with that?