The Murders in the Rue Morgue
by Jeannot Szwarc
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DVD details
Actor: George C. Scott, Ian McShane, Neil Dickson, Rebecca De Mornay, Val KilmerDirector: Jeannot Szwarc
Cinematographer: Bruno de Keyzer
Composer: Charles Gross
Editor: Eric Albertson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Platinum Disc
DVD Reviews of The Murders in the Rue Morgue
DVD Review: Entertaining, but flatly made Television film based on the Poe classic.
Summary: 3 Stars
If anything one must consider this film to be easily the most faithful of the several adaptions of the Poe story, Murders in the Rue Morgue". It may also be the least exciting and most lethargic.
Auguste Dupin(George C.Scott), once France's most celebrated detective, is now retired and bitter. Mysterious murders are being comitted however that the police cannot solve and Dupin eventually is persuaded by his daughter(Rebecca De Mornay) and young protege(Val Kilmer) to investigate the case.
The acting is all very good in this picture. Scott takes top honors, of course, bringing a level of conviction and humor to the role of the detective and he easily gains the audience's sympathy rather effortlessly. Scott had scored in two excellent supernatural films that decade already. Those being "The Changeling(1980)" and "A Christmas Carol(1984)".
He is equally good here as well.
The rest of the cast are adequate. Mornay is appropiately pretty and strong-willed as the daughter of Scott's character and comes off as quite likeable. Kilmer is hardly engaging, but he fills the role nicely and plays it accordingly. The supporting cast also create interesting characters that go well with the realistic sets and locations that are utilized which really gives a feel for the time, that being 1899.
This film however suffers from an almost complete lack of atmosphere. It's rather glaring especially in comparsion to the far more flamboyant 1932 film directed by Robert Florey and starring Bela Lugosi, where Paris was depicted as an expressionist nightmare. Here, outside of a nice opening shot, the film fails to convey nearly as much menace and like in Poe's story, the final reveal of the killer's true identity is both ludicrous and bizarre.
Considering this film can be purchased on the cheap, it's certainly not the worst buy for the curious Poe/Gothic Horror fan but can only be considered a curio-piece at best.
DVD Review: A Powerful Performance
Summary: 2 Stars
If you have not seen this movie I want to warn you that C. Dupin is portrayed as an old man who is retired from the police force and has no interest at all in solving mysteries. He doesn't care about anything except playing chess and he is so feeble that he can barely do that. After 40 minutes there is an actual murder and after that you get to watch twenty minutes of his daughter begging him to solve the case. Of course he finally decides to give the case a go and I would like to tell you what happened after that but unfortunately I fell asleep. DVD Review: Scared the beejus out of me
Summary: 3 Stars
I saw this when it aired back in 1986 I was 12 at the time, I was scared out of my mind! I had nightmares for years after watching this movie.DVD Review: The Cover Is Worth The Price of This DVD.
Summary: 4 Stars
It's amazing how poor, alcoholic, destitute Poe could write about Paris in 1889. The fog made it appear eerily like London. Perhaps he lived in Paris, the beautiful City of Love, before ending up as he did in Baltimore (America).
Young Val Kilmer played the understated Philippe who has fallen in love with Claire but tries to prove that her fiance is innocent of the murders. As he and her detective father discover who (or what) the murderer is, he uncovers the truth about Claire's fiance (also engaged to other wealthy women). Alas and alack.
George C. Scott does a commendable job as the French retired police detective who comes alive again. Sometimes, you might imagine that he is the one! The ending has a twist which is so Edgar Allen Poe, it surprises the viewer just the same. And I've been a fan of Poe's 'Ligeia' since 1960.
Rebecca DeMornay was perfect as Claire. The way the murderer is trapped makes you wonder if it could possibly be a cover up for the real one. With Poe, who knows?
DVD Review: deflated
Summary: 2 Stars
I'd seen this movie years ago and liked it, for that time, so....imagine my delight when I found the DVD in a discount bin! Thinking I'd found a treasure, I scooped it up and couldn't wait to get home to view it. After doing so, I was disappointed. If I hadn't read the book, I'd never had known it was set in Paris. No one even tried to "be French."
On the technical side, the DVD's sound is poor.
For what it is, it's ok, but I recommend sticking with the book. After all, you can never really improve on the original...
Description of The Murders in the Rue Morgue
A detective comes out of retirement to help his daughters fiance prove that he did not commit a series of murders. Studio: Platinum Disc Llc Release Date: 12/07/2004 Starring: George C Scott Rebecca De Mornay Run time: 92 minutes Director: Jeannot SzwarcGeneral DVDs
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