Murray, seeded second in Rotterdam, was broken in his first service game and again in the fifth game of the second set as he lost 6-3 6-4 in 71 minutes.
The world number six said: "It was the first time I've played three [days] in a row since the surgery in September, so that has to be a positive."
Cilic, who sent down eight aces, will play Igor Sijsling in the last four.
Murray, who
had back surgery
in September but
reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open
last month, failed to convert any of three break points from 40-0
in game six of the second set as Croatia's Cilic saw out a comfortable
win.
The Scot added: "I didn't get off to a good start in the first set, but he served extremely well throughout the match. I created a lot of opportunities to break serve, but I could not convert my chances."
It was Cilic's second win over Murray in 11 FedEx ATP meetings.
"It's a great feeling," said 25-year-old Cilic.
"Andy made a few more unforced errors than usual, but I think it is a great victory for me. Eight wins in a row now and I am looking forward to the semi-finals."
Cilic, who last beat Murray at the 2009 US Open, has now won 16 straight sets on the ATP World Tour. Last week, he lifted his fourth PBZ Zagreb Indoors title when he beat Tommy Haas in the final.
Dutchman Sijsling beat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2 2-6 6-1, while the other semi-final will see number three seed Tomas Berdych take on Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.
Gulbis beat top seed and defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 6-3 6-4.
Berdych battled back from a set down to beat Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (9-11) 6-2 6-4.
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