The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986)

★ 5.9 1h 40m 36 votes IMDb

Drama Horror Crime Mystery

A detective comes out of retirement to help his daughter's fiance prove that he did not commit a series of murders.

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Cast

George C. Scott as Auguste Dupin Died 1999 · Wise, Virginia, USA George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayals of the prosecutor Claude Dan...

Rebecca De Mornay as Claire Dupin Age 66 · Santa Rosa, California, USA Rebecca De Mornay (born August 29, 1959) is an American film and television actress. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business opposite Tom Cruise. Her other nota...

Ian McShane as Prefet de police Age 83 · Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is a Scottish-English actor. His television performances include the title role in the BBC series Lovejoy (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in Deadwood (2004–2006)...

Neil Dickson as Adolphe Le Bon Age 67 · UK Neil Dickson is a British born stage and film actor and voice over artiste who divides his career between the US and the UK. A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Dickson spent severa...

Val Kilmer as Philippe Huron Died 2025 · Los Angeles, California, USA Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting wi...

Director Jeannot Szwarc

Cast George C. Scott, Rebecca De Mornay, Ian McShane, Neil Dickson, Val Kilmer, Maud Rayer, Maxence Mailfort, Fernand Guiot, Patrick Floersheim, Roger Lumont

Wuchak 6/10 Apr 25, 2024

**_George C. Scott, Val Kilmer and Rebecca De Mornay in the Victorian Era_**

In Paris, a recently-retired detective (Scott) is encouraged by his daughter (De Mornay) to investigate a shocking double murder in order to save her fiancé. Kilmer plays his associate godson while Ian McShane is on hand as the Prefect.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1986) is a fairly faithful adoption of Edgar Allan Poe’s tale, published in 1841. This is in contrast to the 1971 film of the same name (with Jason Robards and Herbert Lom), which totally deviated from the original yarn and is more akin to “The Phantom of the Opera.” Here, scriptwriter David Epstein wisely augmented Poe’s story to spice it up a little and make it worthy of a feature length movie, albeit a TV production. (Poe's tale is only about 38 pages in modern form).

It's Victorian mystery/horror in the manner of Hammer's "The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll" (1960) and Klaus Kinski’s "Jack the Ripper" (1976), as well as later films like "Edge of Sanity" (1989) and “From Hell” (2001). It lacks the colorful sensationalistic elements of those movies and focuses on the murder mystery but, remember, Poe’s tale is famous for being the first fictional detective story and obviously influenced Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, amongst others.

I first became aware of “Murders in the Rue Morgue” as a teen due to Iron Maiden’s song on their (best) album KILLERS, but never read Poe’s yarn and so wasn’t familiar with the creative revelation of who the murderer is. As such, this kept my interest. No, it’s not as colorfully entertaining as most of those other movies noted, but you can’t beat the authentic French locales and the great cast. The special effects for the ending are surprisingly convincing and hold up.

The movie runs 1 hour, 40 minutes, and was shot in the Paris area, including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Place de l'Opéra and in Buttes-Chaumont, the latter standing-in for the Bois de Boulogne. Almost a third of it was filmed away from the city, such as the prison sequences, which were done in Corbeil, Marne, which is in the country 115 miles east of the city.

GRADE: B-