Murders in the Rue Morgue
Director: Gordon Hessler
Cast: Jason Robards, Herbert Lom, Christine Kaufmann
The Dunwich Horror
Director: Daniel Haller
Cast: Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley
Scream Factory
March 29, 2016
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Scream Factory has been putting out some good double packs that, if the movies were introduced individually, may not warrant the full Blu-ray treatment. Not that they’re bad movies, only that interest in them is sadly not that high. The latest example of this is a one-two punch of 70s goodness, both based on the work of two masters of macabre and horror. The first is 1971’s version of Edgar Allan Poe’s weird murder mystery, Murders in the Rue Morgue. The other one is a slice of cosmic horror from the pen of H.P. Lovecraft: 1970’s The Dunwich Horror. Are these movies classics that should be added to everyone’s home horror library or are they just plain old and should be forgotten? Well grab some bananas and your handy copy of the Necronomicon, and let’s find out.
Made by American International Pictures, this version of Murders in the Rue Morgue differs quite a lot from the classic Poe story, but that was done on purpose to keep those already familiar with the story guessing. So in honor of that, I’m going to be sparse on the specifics here. This story centers around a 20th century theatre troupe in Paris specializing gory, Grand Guignol-like plays. One such play just so happens to be Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” so if you’re expecting authentic murderous monkey business, you might be surprised. As to the real threat, I will say there are more shades of The Phantom of the Opera here than anything by Poe, but there are some neat twists and turns, some good acting (most notably by Jason Robards as the theater director), and enough murder and mystery to keep you watching. If you’re looking for a different take on the old Poe classic, this one will do it for you.
Speaking of different, we then jump to the first theatrical take on H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror” also made by A.I.P. And boy, is this one a doozy. Gone are most of Lovecraft’s weird fiction touches and Cthulhu Mythos flavored horror. They are replaced by lip service name drops, trippy 70s psychedelia, and naughty sex rituals more akin to Crowley than anything Lovecraft ever wrote. You do get Ed Begley giving a fine performance of the learned Dr. Henry Armitage, and Dean Stockwell giving a fun performance as a bit too human and hammy Wilbur Whateley. Oh and the big scandalous (at the time) bit: America’s 60s sweetheart, Sandra Dee, gets all sexy and nude. Well, very partial and very brief nudity, but that was still pretty shocking for Gidget to do. The basics of the story are the same, and if you never read H.P. Lovecraft’s original tale, you’re really missing out. In short, a weird family is doing weird things to bring weird gods back to earth. This involves an ancient book of evil called the Necronomicon, lots of chanting, and an amazing technicolor positive/negative monster. So yeah, this movie isn’t all that faithful to its source material, but it is a whole lot of fun in a wow-what-were-they-thinking (and what drugs were they taking) kind of way.
Okay let’s get to the goodies and extras Scream Factory wangled up for this two-for-one release. For Murders in the Rue Morgue, there is an audio commentary track with author and historian Steve Haberman. There is a nearly 12 minute featurette called “Stage Tricks & Screen Frights” about taking a very familiar story, like Rue Morgue, and trying to do something new with it. A theatrical trailer is also here. For The Dunwich Horror, Steve Haberman returns for another commentary. Sadly, other than that, there is only a trailer. Yes, once again, H.P. Lovecraft gets the shaft. But seriously, both movies look great in HD without looking overly processed and getting that dreaded plastic look that a lot of old movie get when they come out on Blu-ray. And really, that’s the best special feature of all.
For me, the Lovecraft story here, while being very 70s trippy, outweighs the Poe one, but that could just be my personal taste coming through. Both movies are good, if at times a bit goofy, but they’re a lot of fun if you don’t demand them to be faithful to their namesakes. If you don’t have these movies in your collection then yes, you really should. Consider this double pack well recommended.
