Murder Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Murder Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 7, 2022

Note: The 2 films in this disc are available on Blu-ray as part of The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2.

When is Dracula not Dracula? When Christopher Lee, obviously famous for playing that character, insists on "stretching" his range (and/or fangs) by frankly playing the character under a different name, as kind of comically happens at least a couple of times in this appealing second go round from Severin Films of some of Lee's European output. This sequel of sorts of (relative) rarities featuring Lee follows Severin's enjoyable The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection from last year, and my hunch is some Lee fans may actually enjoy the films aggregated in this set more than those that were part of this first release, perhaps due at least in part to the fact that Lee does get to strut his vampiric stuff on more than one occasion, no matter what name his character goes by. This is another nicely packaged release from Severin that also offers a really nicely done perfect bound booklet with some excellent writing by the always reliable Jonathan Rigby and a glut of great stills and promotional materials.

If Dark Places had an appropriately seventies Movie of the Week kind of vibe, it might be argued that Murder Story kind of moves things along and resembles one of those nascent "premium" cable services tried to convince you some little known foreign production with at least one marquee star was some undiscovered masterpiece. There's a really fascinating commentary on this disc featuring co-writers and co-directors Eddie Arno and Markus Innocenti moderated by Severin Films' David Gregory where they get into some actually slightly humorous background of the production. Evidently they met with a producer who, a la those old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films, may not have had a barn, but had a pile of dough and tasked Arno and Innocenti with quickly coming up with a screenplay which would then immediately go into production. The two claim to have pitched the basic storyline of Murder Story then and there, delivering a final version a mere eleven days later. Some curmudgeons may argue they might have benefitted from a twelfth day at least, but Murder Story, while slight, is kind of slyly fun, and in both the same way as and in a manifestly different way from some of the other films in the second Eurocrypt collection, it offers Lee a kind of "meta" role.

In this case, it's not the overtly "meta" aspect of a vampire playing an actor playing a vampire in Dracula and Son, or even the way Lee, then hot off his success of playing Dracula for Hammer, then spoofed himself in Uncle Was a Vampire. This obvious built in self referential quality with regard to Lee's character of Willard Hope is as the sort of detective Lee portrayed in any number of films (including Secret of the Red Orchid, also in this set), but probably saliently the Sherlock Holmes and Holmes adjacent roles Lee essayed through the years.

The setup here is that Hope is supposedly famous for cutting up newspaper articles and then kind of throwing them together to create his works of fiction, in what might be equated to the literary equivalent of Jackson Pollock splattering a canvas with random dollops of paint. A local kid named Tony Zonis (Alexis Denisof) enlists Hope as a mentor to craft a supposed new bestseller, but since Tony has already been seen running amok on a friend's motorcycle, nearly getting several people killed, it might be presumed he hasn't totally thought things through. If Hope is inarguably the smarter of the pair, the two deciding to use Hope's preferred method of "inspiration" turns out to have sinister consequences.

There's an undeniably tawdry, maybe even slightly smarmy, aspect to what ensues, but the film makes good use of some Amsterdam locations, and Lee is avuncular in a role that really doesn't require him to do all that much. Perhaps kind of surprisingly, co-directors Arno and Innocenti made their mark as music video directors, but there's really next to no hyperbolic "flash" in the visuals here, despite the location work.

Murder Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Murder Story is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The back cover of this release announces this is "the worldwide disc premiere" of the film, "scanned in 4K from the original negative". The initial rush of an unbridled quality source might be at least slightly tempered by the text disclaimer that actually precedes the film:

Murder Story has been mastered in 2K from the original negative. However, due to being stored in less than ideal conditions over the years, instances of deterioration in the element are occasionally visible.

I'm frankly not sure how to reconcile the 4K with 2K disconnect in terms of what is stated on the back cover and then in the prefatory text card, but one way or the other, this is one of the better looking transfers in the second Eurocrypt set. While there are some pretty drastic downturns in quality in selected moments (see screenshot 17), for the most part this presentation offers a really nicely secure palette and generally quite commendable detail levels. The palette generally looks very natural, though at times seemed to tip just slightly toward peach hues with regard to some of the flesh tones. Blues were particularly notable and resonate very well throughout. This has an appealingly organic looking grain field which can get pretty rough and even noisy looking in some of the more problematic moments.

Murder Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Murder Story features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track, and the good news is, this is a English language "version" that actually utilizes Christopher Lee's own redoubtable voice! (Yes, that's a joke.) The film frankly doesn't have an overly ambitious sound design, and some may feel as I do that the cheesy synth score should have been scrapped, or at least mixed significantly lower than it is, but curmudgeonly quibbles aside, the track offers more than capable support for dialogue and effects. Optional English subtitles are available.

Murder Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Co-writers / Co-Directors Eddie Arno and Markus Innocenti


• A British Producer in Holland (HD; 14:00) is an interview with producer Tom Reeve.


• Mask of Murder (1988) (HD; 1:29:11) is a Swedish-Canadian film with Christopher Lee in a third billed role (after Rod Taylor and Valerie Perrine) as the kind of police inspector I reference above with regard to the "meta" aspects of Lee's role in Murder Story.


• Trailer (HD; 1:55)

Murder Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Murder Story is, kind of like that aforementioned synth score, kind of cheesy, but it's fun to see Lee taking it easy and coasting through a production that admittedly doesn't offer any challenges, but which is at least technically proficient and offers some capable ensemble performances. The actual plot here goes from unbelievable to ludicrous pretty quickly. Technical merits are generally solid, at least given the disclaimer that Severin offers, the supplements quite engaging (both the commentary and Reeve interview are very worthwhile), for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.