Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932 film) the Rue Morgue" were disappointing, and Lugosi's original Universal contract for "Dracula" was not extended. Today, however, the film is generally well-regarded by critics and is considered a cult classic. In Paris in 1845, a mad scientist, Dr. Mirakle (Bela Lugosi), abducts young women and injects them with ape blood, in order to create a mate for his talking sideshow ape Erik (Charles Gemora, the gorilla performer). Young Pierre Dupin, a young naive medical student and detective (Leon Ames — credited as Leon Waycoff — in the role of Poe's standard detective icon, C. Auguste Dupin), his fiancée Camille L'Espanaye
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971 film) hired to direct the film. Hessler says he felt the story was so familiar it needed to be changed, so he and writer Christopher Wicking decided to do it as a play-within-a-play, with a mystery happening around a theatre that was putting on a production of "Murder in the Rue Morgue". The new storyline owned a lot to "Phantom of the Opera". Hessler said Vincent Price "was very upset that he wasn't in" the film "but I had nothing to with that." He thought Price was having contractual fights with AIP at the time. Hessler says AIP hired Jason Robard