gridoon2024 Review of Murders in the Zoo

Murders in the Zoo (1933)

Lionel Atwill is a great screen villain

[6/10 · 12 February 2017]

A rather strange movie - because everyone plays it straight except Charlie Ruggles, who acts as if he is in a slapstick comedy! He plays a marketing man for a municipal zoo who is deathly afraid of animals, and he made me chuckle once or twice, but a little of him goes a long way. The film is thinly plotted, but it contains some fascinating animal footage, and Lionel Atwill is perversely pleasurable to watch as the villain; he is murderously mad with jealousy and desire for his unfaithful wife (Kathleen Burke). It's roles like this one that have made him one of the most important predecessors of horror icons such as Vincent Price. **1/2 out of 4.