Murders In The Rue Morgue (1971)

In turn of the 20th century Paris, a theatre troupe specializes in performing Grand Guignol horror. But the horror becomes a reality when members and ex-members of the company start turning up dead! Very loosely based (I'd say suggested) on the novel by Edgar Allan Poe and directed by Gordon Hessler (GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD). Can a horror film get any more dreary? Other than the title and the use of an ape, the film has very little to do with the Poe tale. There's no tension, no atmosphere, no genuine sense of horror. As the head of the theatre company, Jason Robards gives an enervated performance that needed a Vincent Price or Christopher Lee to breathe life into it. Robards is strictly collecting a paycheck but to be fair, just about everyone else is too. Filmed in Spain, the production values are nice but this is predictable down to its silly finale. With Lilli Palmer, Herbert Lom, Adolfo Celi, Christine Kaufmann, Michael Dunn and Maria Perschy.