A fascinating if unsatisfying addition to the Universal horror cycle (co-written by John Huston!) with a splendid turn from Bela Lugosi - complete with his inimitable delivery - and some highly interesting sets obviously inspired by THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919). The leads are among the blandest in 30s horror cinema but Robert Florey's stylized direction and Karl Freund's Expressionistic camera-work make up for this deficiency in spades: the foggy night-time sequences, carnival scenes and the gorilla rampage at the end (which reminded me of the similar finale of Hammer's THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF [1961], incidentally!) are quite effective. The film followed the trend of sadistic violence (which reached a peak in Universal's THE BLACK CAT [1934]) and sexual overtones (first touched upon by DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE [1931]) prevalent at the time - which certainly aided its box-office potential - but these elements now seem very tame. In the end, while MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE may not be in the same league as the best Universal horrors, it's still a worthy effort which repays repeated viewings.
Review of Murders in the Rue Morgue
