A Is for Acid (2002)
Dramatisation of the true story of the notorious 'acid bath murderer' John Haigh, who murdered women and disposed of their bodies in vats of acid in the 1940s. He was only caught when the gallstones of one of his victims failed to dissolve in the acid and were detected by the pathologist who examined the residue from the acid bath.
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Simply A Masterpiece
Overrated
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
An affable psychopath in post-war Britain suckers in his down-at-heel acquaintances to liquidate them in acid and release ready funds. Will he be caught? Lovely Poirot-style production, with oodles of acting quality. No great psychological insight, but at least the moral brigade is kept at bay and the natural horror seeps through the period atmosphere.It refuses to creepify in the acid bath scenes - the last victim might have breathed in then gurgled out a great bubble of blood, but no - so a gentle horror, which was fine by me. I still took pleasure in the pace and performances, the setting and sound.Overall, nicely judged and a good surprise.
Martin Clunes plays a truly pig-full, chauvinistic (unfortunately slightly-hysterical but it shouldn't) performance as he plays the clever inventor who drops comical one-liners. The film makes one's ribs crack in sadness and pain as Haigh (Clunes), dressed to mimic Hitler (moustache, hair and all) seduces women in typical Clunes innuendo style, and then proceeds to kill and dip their bodies in acid.This film certainly is A is For Acid, as Haigh (Clunes) recites the dream he had when he was a child about 'His Vampire Story'. I do not believe I have ever seen so many 'straight' faces in my life throughout the whole film never mind the lyrics to the music from the start to 'The End', quoting from the Dad of Johnny George Haigh.This film is ultimately a rip-off from Alfred Hitchcock's 'Johnny Brown's Body' (1955-1962). It has been done in the most satirical way that ITV (shown on ITV3 (Britain) on 4th March) and IMDb viewers have seemed to overlook this in their reviews.
A highly entertaining telling of a real life drama about a glamourous British serial killer. Not the most likely subject to tempt an audience but the production was put together with great attention to detail, perfectly capturing Britain in the 1940's, the props, clothes, cars and atmosphere all seeming perfectly genuine. Martin Clunes was superb as Haigh and the supporting cast all played their parts wonderfully well too. A rather unusual subject portrayed with a balanced perspective and having read accounts of the events surrounding Haigh I thought it was a great visualisation of the words I had read. Very interesting indeed.
Based on the true story of the Acid Bath Murderer, John George Haigh, this TV drama stars Martin Clunes as the odd-looking, charming serial killer.Normally I don't go in for TV dramas, but since this I have a passing interest in serial killers, I watched it -- I found it well scripted and well acted, with Clunes doing a good job -- at times he did bear a resemblance to the real Haigh (from old photographs I've see), and he brought a certain charm to his character, making his deceits all the more realistic, whilst his narrative voice contrasted this with a certain lack of emotion or inflection. Also, nicely paced.