Review by Empire

Mathematician/philosopher (John Hurt) and a would-be disciple (Elijah Wood) are thrown together at the scene of a murder which seems to be the first of a string of serial killings committed in answer to the professor’s declaration that there is no such thing as a purely intellectual murderer.

Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia presents a weird, skewed vision of British university life, and offers a mystery which would like to be profound but comes across as a knock-off of UK-TV staples like Morse, Marple and Messiah.

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Review by Brainondorf

Attempting to balance the cerebral with the suspenseful, Alex de la Iglesia’s “The Oxford Murders” is a wonderfully compelling mess of a movie. It’s tricky trying to bond Hitchcockian flair with lecture hall semantics, but the director works his tricks with ace visual consideration. However, there are gaps in characterization that are too wide to comfortably leap, with more attention paid to the homework of the plot than its human appeal.

Off to the University of Oxford to continue his education, Martin (Elijah Wood) seeks the guidance of his idol, Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a leading mind in the mystery of mathematics. Hoping to convince the professor to become his thesis supervisor, Martin instead encourages the ire of the old man, who has little patience for an untested mind. Happening upon the dead body of an acquaintance together, Martin and Arthur hastily strike up a partnership; both men are eager to deduce the motive of the killer but incomplete clues soon lead to a second homicide.

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Review by View London

Disappointing, badly plotted thriller, let down by some dodgy acting, poor direction and a script that makes The Da Vinci Code look like a masterpiece.

What’s it all about?
Based on the novel by Guillermo Martinez, The Oxford Murders stars Elijah Wood as Martin, an American grad student who comes to Oxford so that he can study with renowned professor Arthur Seldom (John Hurt). However, Seldom actually turns out to be a bit of a bastard and he belittles Martin in front of a lecture audience.

However, Martin and Seldom find themselves thrown together when they stumble on the murder of Martin’s landlady (Anna Massey) and discover that the murderer left a note with mathematical symbols on it, indicating that he will strike again.

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Attempting to balance the cerebral with the suspenseful, Alex de la Iglesia’s “The Oxford Murders” is a wonderfully compelling mess of a movie. It’s tricky trying to bond Hitchcockian flair with lecture hall semantics, but the director works his tricks with ace visual consideration. However, there are gaps in characterization that are too wide to comfortably leap, with more attention paid to the homework of the plot than its human appeal.

Off to the University of Oxford to continue his education, Martin (Elijah Wood) seeks the guidance of his idol, Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a leading mind in the mystery of mathematics. Hoping to convince the professor to become his thesis supervisor, Martin instead encourages the ire of the old man, who has little patience for an untested mind. Happening upon the dead body of an acquaintance together, Martin and Arthur hastily strike up a partnership; both men are eager to deduce the motive of the killer but incomplete clues soon lead to a second homicide.

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