The latest in the ‘Hammer Presents’ range sees the label following up its release of CRY OF THE BANSHEE with another AIP-produced Christopher Wicking (writer) and Gordon Hessler (director) collaboration. In fact it was their last, and marked the final film in the lengthy series of Poe ‘adaptations’ (some of them stretch the definition a bit) the company had been making since the 1960s.
At a Grand Guignol-style theatre in Paris members of the repertory company are being bumped off by a fiend in a black cape who pours acid on them. The company’s leader, Cesar Charron (Jason Robards in a very Vincent Price-style role), also has other problems to worry about as his wife Madeleine (Christine Kaufman) keeps having dreams about a masked man swinging an axe. The police are baffled and as the murders continue, all set against the backdrop of the stage play ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ that is being performed at the theatre, it turns out that the answers to everything lie in the past.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is a bit too clever for its own good, wanting to do something different from adapting the Poe novel while acknowledging it, giving us a revenge plot filled with murders and even more stuff regarding the Charron family’s past. It’s all a bit much, not helped by having Christopher Wicking write the screenplay. Known for his rather oblique treatments of horror properties, Wicking’s scripts could tend toward the confusing and you really have to pay attention here to appreciate everything that’s going on.
But for EuroHorror fans it remains a treat. Set in France and filmed in Spain by an American company operating out of its UK office, the film is an understandable mixture of actors, including Bond villain Adolfo Celi, Paul Naschy standby Maria Perschy, Hessler regulars Marshall Jones and Peter Arne, as well as international stars Herbert Lom, Lilli Palmer and Michael Dunn.
Hammer’s disc features a commentary track from the always enthusiastic Chris Alexander (who performed similar duties on CRY OF THE BANSHEE) on the 1.85:1 aspect ratio director’s cut version. You also get the 1.66:1 framed theatrical release. The director’s cut runs 98 minutes, the theatrical runs 87 and also contain the tinted dream sequences some may remember from TV showings back in the day. Otherwise we get a new talking head piece from Kim Newman (21 minutes), an archival interview with director Gordon Hessler (12 minutes) image gallery, and a trailer.
Gordon Hessler’s MURDERS IN THE RUN MORGUE is out in 4K as separate UHD and Blu-ray releases on Monday 20th July 2026
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