So much average

Memorable, crazy movie

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is one of the more faithful adaptations of an Edgar Allen Poe story, and the filmmakers manage to fill in the "gaps" in the story (with scenes that aren't actually IN the short story itself, but serve to add to the movie in the way that such scenes SHOULD); the director's flair helps keep things interesting (the scene where the heroine is talking to her suitor while on a swing is the perfect example: the director takes an innocuous bit of exposition and makes it a memorable moment). The biggest problem I had was with the elderly chimp doubling for a gorilla in the closeups: having watched truly Remarkable Great Apes like Koko the gorilla, Chantek the orangutan and Nim Chimpsky the chimp COMMUNICATE with Humans (all via Sign Language), it's nigh impossible to watch this kind of amateurish misdirection and just shrug it off.

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) certainly fits the "style over substance" classification. Unlike some others, I would not call it an underrated masterpiece, but for what it is, it's not a bad film. Bela Lugosi hams it up big time while Sidney Fox and Leon Ames are pretty to look at but bland as the lovers brought into peril by Lugosi's plans to mate humans and apes.The expressionistic sets are beautiful and the mood is creepy. There is one genuinely creepy scene where Lugosi tortures a kidnapped street walker until she dies. The climactic chase with Erik carrying the unconscious damsel-in-distress across the rooftops is an obvious homage to the German horror classic, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).Of course, there is a degree of silliness with the ape, Erik. In some scenes, it is quite obvious we're watching a man in a suit stomping and hopping about.No great film, but fans of 1930s horror will eat it up.

"Murders in the Rue Morgue", an adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe tale, is set in 19th century Paris when a mad scientist named Dr. Mirakle (Bela Lugosi) has an exhibit consisting of a "human"-like ape. Dr. Mirakle spouts some pretty radical ideas about evolution that local carnival goers find blasphemous. But the bad doctor is committed to his pursuit: proving the link between man and ape. So periodically he abducts young women so they may be injected with gorilla blood. His latest target is Camille L'Espanaye (pretty Sidney Fox), whose boyfriend Pierre (Leon Ames) is not a real Dudley Do Right type himself. He's not above bribing a morgue keeper (D'Arcy Corrigan) to let him have access to dead bodies in order to study them. Overall, this isn't one of the most notable Universal horrors of the time. The main problem is that for a movie running only about one hour, it goes on a little long(!), with some scenes that do feel padded, and some comedy relief (supplied by Bert Roach, as Paul, Pierre's roommate) that doesn't really add anything to it. The movie is simply too slow, too quiet (it could have used a music score), and too light on horror too much of the time. Still, it has the look of quality, with appropriate Expressionist cinematography by Karl Freund, and some good atmosphere. In the movies' few shocking scenes, it *does* deliver, and is actually strong stuff for the time, with people getting stabbed, stripped naked and jabbed with a needle, and stuffed up a chimney. These moments do add punch to the movie, but what really elevates the rating by a point is the presence of Lugosi, one genre star who could always be counted on to give 100% to any role; here he delights in the depraved nature of his character. The other actors are okay but can't exactly compare. Erik himself is portrayed with a combination of a human performer in a gorilla suit and closeups of chimpanzees. This may take some viewers out of the movie too much. Given the short duration, the climax naturally feels a little rushed. All things considered, this is worth a look for devoted fans of 30s horror, but isn't as potent as some of the other productions of the time. John Huston is credited with additional dialogue. Seven out of 10.

In 1845 Paris, handsome Leon Ames (as Pierre Dupin) and his rotund roommate Bert Roach (as Paul) take their giggly dates to see carnival attraction Bela Lugosi (as "Doctor" Mirakle) and his monstrous ape "Erik". The ape-man walks upright and is called, "The beast with a human soul!" When pretty Sidney Fox (as Camille L'Espanaye) gets close to his cage, "Erik" seems smitten with Mr. Ames' date and grabs her bonnet. Meanwhile, Mr. Lugosi reveals he is mixing the blood of man and ape to show evolution. We also see Lugosi save streetwalker and future "What's My Line?" panelist Arlene Francis; then, he gives her the needle...Naturally, Lugosi sets his sights on Ms. Fox, and then Ames must try to save her...This is a ridiculous story, and not true to the Edgar Allan Poe original; but, it is interesting and stylish. The common assertion that our simian cousins are "evolving" is still being repeated - usually by those sarcastically seeking to disprove evolution. This is incorrect, of course. Today's apes and humans are not evolving into each other; they merely have a common ancestral tract, which has been shown in ways one could relate to Lugosi's examination of blood in this film. Lugosi's lurid and torturous patient preparation of Ms. Francis and the expressionist sequences photographed by Karl Freund are highlights.******* Murders in the Rue Morgue (2/21/32) Robert Florey ~ Bela Lugosi, Leon Ames, Sidney Fox, Bert Roach