A Is for Acid
A Is for Acid
| 09 September 2002 (USA)
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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.

Reviews
Lucybespro

It is a performances centric movie

Philippa

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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Fleur

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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Dana

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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one-nine-eighty

This is a TV dramatization of the life of Acid Bath Murderer, John George Haigh. Starring Martin Clunes and Keeley Hawkes in headline roles. I came across the film on terrestrial free-view and really enjoyed it. Far from his "Men Behaving Badly" days Martin Clunes plays a role with vast emotional ranges in a beautifully recreated 1940's. Occasionally out right charming he is able to turn on a creepy and sadistic persona with ease. I don't normal like his acting but he seemed ideal for this role. Despite the films grizzly content matter it comes of as beautifully created piece of work, authentic to it's era with attention to detail. There is a maybe a heavier touch of violence compared to other TV dramatizations, but that goes with the territory when you base a film on one of the UK's biggest serial killers. Definitely worth a watch.

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Nicholas Anderson

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.

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Bobby Beans

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.

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marlowe_is_dead

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.

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