Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2007)

Lavish, gothic, and perverse, this 18th-century crime story centers on a catlike peasant who kills women in order to bottle their scent. Director Tom Tykwer's dark, gorgeous atmospherics — he cleverly manifests odor via nostril close-ups and voluptuous music — make up for the bewigged blustering of hammy supporting players Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman. But the EXTRAS, only a toothless 13-minute making-of, stink. The bonkers finale of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer — a mass orgy requiring 750 extras and five days to shoot — is addressed for a mere 20 seconds. B-