Traqué par son roman

My review was written in July 1989 after watching the film on Academy video cassette.

Dutch-made thriller "Murder Story" is a passable light entertainment where youngsters become involved in real-life murder and espionage (a la Universal's "Gotcha" and "Cloak & Dagger).

With British backing and casting, pic shapes up as an okay video.

Interesting screenplay by tandem directors Eddie Arno and Markus Innocentit focuses on aspiring young novelist Alexis Desinof, living in Amsterdam, who's copying the technique of his author hero Willard Hope (Christopher Lee), whereby seemingly random newspaper clippings are merged as genesis for a mystery.

When Desinof meets his hero at a book-signing session and finds out he also lives in Amsterdam, he inveigles for assistance from Lee. Duo, plus Desinof's pretty girlfriend Stacia Burton, start putting disparate clues together and soon become targets for extinction by real-life killers involved in stolen scientific research Film unfolds suspensefully but is hampered by an open ending which (on purpose to prove a point) does not resolve the mystery.

Lee is authoritative as the cultivated armchair hero pressed into action, in a departure from his sinister roles. Young leads Desinof and Burton are engaging.

Pic is relatively tame compared to other films in its genre. Big-name casting for the youngsters plus a more topical central mystery could have elevated this acceptable pcit rue to must-see status.