John Carradine repeatedly claimed that Bluebeard was his favorite role to play (out of a repertoire of over 250 films, that has got to mean something!) and I can only confirm that his ghoulish performance is the film's biggest strength. The Bluebeard-myth is one of the most intriguing premises in horror cinema ever and even though this isn't the famous tale with the "secret locked room in the castle", it definitely is a haunting and unsettling murder story. "Bluebeard" is set in the beautiful city of Paris where the handsome Gaston Morell (Carradine) tries to earn a living by painting and street theater with self-made puppets. He's very popular among the Parisians and all the young ladies secretly hope to get seduced by him. But Gaston leads a dangerous double life as the feared "Bluebeard" who strangles women and dumps their bodies in the sewers. The film features very little violence and most of the story involves the police's search for the killer's identity. With the help of slick young women, the police attempts to ambush Bluebeard by presenting the girls as potential models for a portrait. Carradine's performance is really flawless (those eyes!) and the direction is very well handled. Ulmer is a severely underrated director with several other genre highlights on his name, like "The Black Cat", "Detour" and "The Amazing Transparent Man". The film suffers a little from an anti-climax but it's especially worth watching for the acting and the stunning photography.
