Customer Reviews

Rosary Murders [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"The Rosary Murders" is a fairly satisfying thriller. By today's standards, it is almost sedate. It rolls out its tale of a killer targeting priest and nuns in a leisurely fashion. Considering the high number of victims, the gore factor is kept to a minimum. The `Creepiness Factor', however, is high - lots of dark hallways and uninviting settings.

Donald Sutherland plays a Detroit priest who has the bad luck of hearing the killer's confession. The subplot about the priest's wrestling over the issue of the sanctity of confession is actually more interesting than the main story about the killer and his motive. I am not a Catholic, but I have always been fascinated by the idea that a priest might sometimes be forced to carry around some really dreadful secrets.

Sutherland does a fine job, although his performance seems to be a bit of a rehash of the characters he played in "Klute" [one of my very favorite thrillers] and the 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" [a fine sci-fi film]. The great Charles Durning doesn't have much to do in his role as a fellow priest. This is Sutherland's movie all the way.

The script was co-written by the great crime / mystery novelist, Elmore Leonard. Anyone expecting the snappy, cynical dialog and eccentric characters found in his books will be disappointed. I looked up Leonard's script credits and, surprisingly, found that he has never written a cinematic equivalent to his works of fiction.

Donald Sutherland -giving a somwhat somnambulistic and unengaged performance -plays Father Koestler who realises a psychopath is on the loose in Detroit ,leaving as his calling card a rosary clutched in the hands of the victims .As the body count mounts inexorably he tries and fails to get his superiors to take action
The killer then confesses to Koestler and from what he is told Koestler can figure out the how and why and who of the case but ,being under the seal of the confessional ,cannot act upon his knowledge without doing violence to his priestly views
The movie then evolves into an exploration of his dilemma and how it is resolved .
The pace is slow and the dilemma is not a new one in the movies (see I Confess, the Hitchcock movie for a better movie on the same theme )and the look of the movie is quite bleak .Add to these a somewhat rambling and diffuse script and a lack of brio in both acting and direction and the result is a movie that is pretty heavy going for much of the time
This just about sustains interest but is only really likely to grab die hard mystery fans ; if you want priestly mysteries try either the Hitchcock mentioned previously or else The Name of the Rose ;-both are more rewarding

A great movie and a great author: William X Kienzle - a mystery whodunit that will have you on the edge of your seat. Well rounded cast of actors and this movie is intense. Makes one think after watching the movie for quite some time of what we do which could lead to detrimental conclusions.

This ineffectual thriller by director Fred Walton features Donald Sutherland sleepwalking his way through the role of a priest who hears the confess of a serial killer but is unable to break the seal of silence the Catholic church imposes on the confessional. The use of the Hitchcock I Confess plot is different since here the confessor does not identify himself, so Sutherland must do some detective work before he finds himself in any compromising situations, since an anonymous confession isn't very useful. This thankfully gets Sutherland doing something and away from the turgid non-affair he is contemplating with Belinda Bauer. Although Charles Durning as Sutherland's pastor has practically nothing to work with, apart from one line about why Good Friday is thought to be good when that was the day Christ died, his scene of righteous outrage over the request for baptism of an unwed mother which reveals him as a hardliner is preferable to Sutherland's stupour. Sutherland may be seen as a more permissive priest when he challenges Durning with "Why can't we be more concerned with peace of mind than piece of ass" - but his performance is probably best defined when in one scene he rests his head on a staircase handrail as he speaks, in self-reflective exhaustion. It's amusing to contemplate Bauer's choice of romantic partner - someone who is the strong silent type and emotionally unavailable. Walton continues the serial killer plot far too leisurley, and while I can accept the numerous rosaries the killer has (his mark is to leave one wih each victim, in spite of the fact that they already have one being all clergy people!) it seems that every murder setpiece has a logical floor. eg the first one is found by Sutherland when the door to her room has been left open for others to see. The idea that someone would leave the suicide scene of a relative untouched for 3 years, complete with broken rope and knocked-over stool, is perhaps taking the room-as-shrine concept a little too far (even allowing for the activities of the worshipper), and I also could have done without Sutherland drinking a Virgin Mary at a bar and the obligatory blowing out of the candle as a victim passes by it. However Durning scores a laugh when he blasphemes, and some suspense is built up in a red-herring sequence with an altar boy falling asleep and dropping a crucifixed pole.

Back in October I purchased a DVD from Amazon.com and when I received it in the mail and tried to play it on my player, I was informed that this DVD could not be played in my region (the United States). I was never so upset and mad than I was over that! This kind of information should be made available when a person is considering purchasing this, not after they have bought and paid for it.

I agree with the previous reviewer: Donald Sutherland acts like he's sleepwalking thru the entire movie. He's done much better work than this. Charles Durning is good, but the problem is that this isn't a very good murder mystery. It is worth a look for a couple of reasons, though. There are some lines that are really funny (unintentionally, I'm afraid).

But the #1 reason to see it: THE A-1 STEAK SAUCE GUY DID IT!!!! I think the actor's name is Jim Murtaugh. I'm not joking, so see it if you're curious. ;)