"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. <p>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. <p>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.

Reader Reviews

Price: $19.99 Updated on 5-25-2009.