Fantômas III: Le mort qui tue

By far the best episode in Feuillade's extravaganza.It features a very strong screenplay which does not fall apart in the first reel.The longest (at a running time of about 90 min) episode,it delivers the goods.All the characters are present :besides the usual suspects (Fandor,Fantomas,Juve),the movie features Lady Beltham,Sonia Danidoff,the false warden and the dregs of society with a lot of shady characters who seem to come from Eugène Sue's "Les Mysteres de Paris" . The story is extremely well told and I really think that if one of the five segments can grab today's audience ,it is this one.It's so absorbing and so fascinating it can be watched independently of the others.

A young painter is falsely accused of murder.He is killed in his cell,but his corpse disappears and when a crime or a theft is committed,the Police find his fingerprints in the place.(Hence the title: the killing corpse)

It will not surprise anyone,Souvestre/Allain's novel was their best too,even superior to their first effort the first part of which was not transferred to the screen,which was really a pity.It did include a love affair between Fandor and Elisabeth Dollon :they had even planned to get married but finally the girl discovered Fandor's secret ( his real name was Charles Rambert and in the past...) and their break up was inevitable. In the movie Fandor is only an attentive escort and there's not a single kiss ,even on the cheek.

Juve goes underground and is absent for most of the movie.In the two last episodes his appearances would be even shorter.

It's funny to meet this famous french franchise at this date and that's precisely my motivation to pick it up! I expected to discover the 1st versions of Fandor, Juve and for sure Fantomas. Of all those early 5 movies, i chose this one because the cover and title was similar to the big mystery french stories and that's indeed what the movie is: a nervous, parisian mystery, a genre in which french cinema excels unlike its poor drama... From all the old french movies i saw so far, this one looks the more modern with a lot of action, sets.. Paris has few moments but they are beautiful from a vintage view. The criminal mind is as devious as the later ones and with his hood, Fantomas is as frightening! Honesty this movie has aged like a very good french red wine and you can taste like a national treasure (even if we saw that France has always been this old country not that open to the new technology!)

After a body disappears from inside the prison, a series of crimes take place, all seemingly by the dead man. With Juve presumed dead, Fandor (Georges Melchior) must investigate alone. Will Fantomas finally be brought to justice?

Being a Fantomas story, we pretty much know that Fantomas is the man behind all the horrible crimes... but the real question is how is he doing it? How do you successfully frame a dead man? Surely I cannot give it away, but the twists and turns are excellent and the series really picks up here -- this is not only the centerpiece, but perhaps the climax of the entire run.

I am not sure if you should watch this without having seen the first two parts, but if you saw those, you absolutely must give part three a chance.

Despite the rave reviews from the other fans on here, I feel compelled to speak some truth and even this out a bit from a more objective standpoint. While this is indeed the longest of the Fantomas films--or serials, really. While the first two films move at a fairly quick pace, the third plays as more of a mystery, with Fantomas rarely on the screen. This is especially a shame, as he now finally dons his Executioner hood, looking more diabolical than ever, yet he unfortunately has an estimated total of five minutes screen time with this new attire.

While the murder/mystery storyline is at first compelling and interesting, it quickly dissipates into a boring, convoluted mess. For starters, gone is Fantomas' disguise gimmick from the beginning of the first two serials. While not imperative, it served as an interesting look into the titular evildoer himself with some impressive effects, and as sort of a recap of the character himself. The most egregious aspect of the film isn't the story itself, but Feuillade's bland, static direction. Scenes go on for far two long, with the average shot length well over thirty seconds. While the camera blocking is at times well placed in its execution, each and every scene drags, testing the viewer to keep focused on characters or actions that matter, most of which are simply superfluous.

While the resolution is quite grisly in the motives and actions of Fantomas himself, the ending feels anti-climactic and rushed compared to the previous outings of suspense and mystery. While it's a necessary film to view in the series, be warned, for it's also the worst.

In this third installment of the "Fantomas" film serial, things seem to take a much darker turn. While the previous two installment certainly have their darker moments, this film has a much darker overall tone for a majority of its running time.

While I must admit that I found "Juve Against Fantomas" to be more entertaining and, therefore, better, "The Dead Man Who Killed" definitely had the most interesting story out of all the "Fantomas" films that I've seen so far. A lot of people consider this to be the best film of the "Fantomas" serial, but I must yet again say that I prefer "Juve Against Fantomas" based on the sheer amount of entertainment value and memorability that that film presented me with.

I have to refrain from giving this addition to the series a 10, even though it is quite excellent, just because I found it to be a bit too slow in parts to get that high a rating. But even if it is slow at times there's still plenty of excitement and suspense throughout the film, as well as an engaging mystery.