Disclaimer: All opinions are those of the author, and do not reflect the opinions of DreadCult, staff or owner. Posts may contain Amazon affiliate links, marked with. If you purchase a product through one of these links, we recieve a small commission at no additional cost to you
After watching Kenneth Branagh’s take on “Murder On The Orient Express” and “Death On The Nile,” I knew I would want to watch this film.
Branagh is a student of Shakespearean everything and an accomplished actor and director in his own right, but after watching A Haunting In Venice it is clear he is a student of classic horror as well.
We open with Poirot ( Branagh) enjoying the retired life when he receives a visit from an old friend. Enter Ariadne Oliver, played marvelously by comedic gem Tina Fey, a writer and past acquaintance of Poirots. She convinces Hercule to attend a seance with a well-known medium to prove that otherworldly forces exist and that not everything is a riddle that can be easily solved. She also would like material to help her with a new novel that she desperately needs to be a hit.
We are taken to a boarded-up school being used as the hosting spot for a Halloween party for children. Here is where some old-school horror influence starts to take hold. A touch of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and a pinch of Tim Burton’s Vincent, and we are given the creepy back story about the school. Our atmosphere is dark and gloomy like many of its classic gothic contemporaries.
The party concludes, and the children clear out, and with this, the grand entrance of our psychic medium. Mrs. Reynolds, played by Hong Kong action queen Michelle Yeoh, is a woman who speaks to the dead. She doesn’t use the typical items though for conversing with spirits in their afterlife. She uses a typewriter. During this sequence, some plot elements are revealed thus entering us into the next part of our story. The murder and a grand one at that.
One of our main characters is impaled on a statue. Rather violently in fact. Forcing Poirot on the case, but in a much different manner than usual. We are given a murder mystery but also a ghost horror story. Kelly Reilly ( Yellowstone) and Jamie Dornan ( 50 Shades) add strong supporting characters to our cast. Reilly plays a grief-stricken mother of a previously killed young female character, and Dornan as a doctor with rage issues. Poirot and Oliver weave in and out of theories as the bodies pile up and the mystery unfolds.
The cinematography is gorgeous, and we are presented with many vintage classic horror shots. There are even some perspective view shots that reminded me of Evil Dead. There are some genuinely unnerving, and scary scenes and there are some jump scares, but the film isn’t reliant on them. This is still a classic style who dun it, but also something more akin to The Haunting or even for modern audiences The Conjuring.
This is probably my favorite of the modern trilogy. Its execution and atmosphere were second to none. I also know this style of filmmaking isn’t really popular anymore in the classic murder mystery style. This was loosely based on the Agatha Christie novel Hallowe’en Party, but I know many liberties were taken from everything I have gathered. Luckily, because of this, I had no preconceived notions, and what I got was an enjoyable and engaging thriller.
If this really was the last of Branagh’s Poirot films I am happy to say I think he saved the best for last. If you have an attention span and are patient, this kind of film really pays off. It is edited to move a tad bit quicker than the previous installments and it runs about 20 minutes shorter as well. This doesn’t take away from its charm at all.
Being released a month shy of Halloween was perfect. It is a film that is intense and smart enough that its PG-13 rating shouldn’t detract that it isn’t a gore-hound-style horror film. It’s more intelligent than that. It’s a throwback-style film in the best way.
