Bluebeard [PG]

The streets of Paris are plagued with fear of the vicious serial killer Bluebeard who strangles young girls and then dumps their bodies in the Seine. The police have no leads as to the identity of Bluebeard as he leaves no traces of his crimes, except the bodies. But when clothes designer, Lucille, starts working for Gaston commonly praised as a talented artist and puppeteer, she discovers the shocking truth of who Bluebeard is. 

A Parisian serial killer named Bluebeard, I have to admit that I was pretty sceptical about this movie, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Bluebeard, whilst not being a film of the highest quality with sound issues and some jagged editing, proves to be an intriguing movie, made particularly captivating by the wonderful performance from John Carradine. 

One thing that I quite liked about this flick was how, although we get a solid idea early on about the identity of Bluebeard, the story itself develops in a very interesting way with many unforeseen plot twists happening. What thus unfolds, is this captivating tale of love and art that quickly gets tarnished and tainted with obsession and loathing. The story of the serial killer is good because, although it’s one that deals with a lot of traditional gothic tropes like murder and madness, it centres around love and art and the connection between the two, Bluebeard doesn’t just stand as a mad serial killer, but gets elevated to this intimately human and intriguingly romantic type of gothic villain. This, I really rather loved. 

John Carradine stars as Gaston Morel and he delivers a wonderfully stoic yet romantic and captivating performance. Whilst on the surface it appears as actually quite wooden, John’s performance has this great level of depth and there is such complexity and depth in even his most nonchalant bouts of dialogue. Not to mention that he has such a screen presence that’s very in keeping with the gothic villain and just immediately draws all attention to him. He’s very good. 

There’s a good level of artistic-ness that is injected into the mise-en-scene and the composition of each shot is done with quite a striking level of sophistication and romanticism. It’s almost like the shots are reflecting the romanticism of the city in which the film is set and I really like that because, as a viewing experience, it makes you feel elegant and fashionable and even Parisian; it elevates the voyeurism of the cinema and makes you feel as though you’re actually a part of that world rather than just looking into it from a place in a dark room. 

Starring Jean Parker, Nils Asther, Ludwig Stossel, George Pembroke, Teela Loring, Henry Kolker, Emmett Lynn, Iris Adrian, Patti McCarthy, Sonia Sorel, Carrie Devan, and Anne Sterling, Bluebeard is a captivating little movie that is both gothic and artistic in a number of ways. Filled with suspense, drama, romance, obsession, and murder, it’s a complete 180-degree turn away from the type of film that its title indicates it might be.