Mystère à Venise

A Haunting in Venice is the third film in the now Poirot trilogy directed and starring Kenneth Branagh. I'm a very casual Poirot viewer. My only exposure to the character is through these films and the British tv series, which I watched long ago and barely remember. As someone who has never read a Poirot novel, I personally liked the previous two films by Branagh, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. I know many Agatha Christie fans do not, and I can understand why given that these films are not extremely loyal to the source material from what I'm told, especially this film.

I haven't read the novel, A Halloween Party, but I'm told the only thing this film has in common with it is that it takes place on Halloween, and that there is a Halloween party in it. The culprit is the same in both, but the motivation and victims are entirely different. I'm guessing Branagh went with a far more obscure Poirot story this time, banking on the fact that not many have read and so they won't notice the many alterations made to it.

However, as someone who is only a casual fan, just like with the last two films, I'll be judging this solely as a standalone piece and not an adaptation. From that viewpoint, I think the movie is good. Like with the last two movies, the film looks great, is wonderfully shot. This one evokes a strong haunting, Halloween atmosphere. The acting is good by everyone involved, even the child actors.

The film is also significantly shorter than the previous two, though in some ways to the film's detriment. I felt Poirot solved the mystery a bit too quickly. The pacing is a bit rushed at the end, and I'm not entirely convinced of how Poirot comes to the conclusions he does.

Despite that, the film is a fun mystery/haunting story. A fun movie to watch, especially around Halloween. I would still say I still like Murder on the Orient Express the most. But I would put this film slightly above Death on the Nile. If you're someone who likes the previous to films in this series, there's no reason not to check this out.

Whereas the last two Branagh Agatha Christie adaptations were movies I sort of liked at first and started to realise were "meh" over time, this latest entry is one that I recognised as mediocre upon first viewing.

Granted, it was really refreshing to see that this time, the filmmakers clearly put effort into the locations and production design. The film looks authentic and gorgeous, as opposed to its predecessors that were over reliant on unnecessary CGI backgrounds.

The story does have some interesting ideas and compelling character interactions, but they unfortunately take a back seat half the time. For the other half, we get a lot of weak attempts at horror and red herring plot points that really do amount to nothing.

I don't know what happened with the performances, but half of them are pretty great and the others are...well, awful. The actors clearly didn't agree on what kind of movie they were in, with some thinking it ought to be straight drama and others thinking they should play it corny.

Like the previous films, this is a middling whodunnit, with all the rote machinations you expect from the genre, nothing shocking, nothing gripping, but nothing so bad as to tank the experience.

It's the definition of mediocre.

This is my first foray into these Branagh Poirots having grown up with David Suchet on TV as him, so he had some big little Belgian shoes to fill.

Branagh brings enough intrigue and quirkiness to the character to make him his own, but in this film he is massively lost in the shadows of Tina Fey whose very presence steals any scene.

Whilst I didn't know the story/plot, it kept me guessing throughout, but some poorly executed shots and weak CGI moments gave the film an element of cheap horror film, and this jarred with the characters.

Yeoh's character was all too brief in her screen time, but she gave a great performance all the same. The main child actor - Jude Hill gives us a wonderfully intense, matter-of-fact, and sinisterly creepy Leopold. I hope to spot Jude flexing this skill in more films in future.

Wouldn't watch again, and likely wouldn't have gone to see it in the cinema if it wasn't because of friends wanting to watch it.

Poirot, now retired, and living in exile, is convinced by his friend Ariadne Oliver, to look into the honesty and integrity of a medium, who's set to visit bereaved mother Rowena Drake.

If you're going into this one hoping for authenticity, you may be a little disappointed, I recently read the book, and aside from a few names and events, it is only very loosely based on the book.

Authenticity to one side, I really did enjoy this movie, talk about an interesting choice, you can understand why Death on The Nile and Orient Express were chosen, but Halloween Party doesn't exactly lend itself well to an adaptation, but overall it works very well, plenty of plus points.

The main winner, the visuals, with Venice they were never going to fail I guess, it looks sensational, but the camera angles and focuses are really nice, very atmospheric and suitably sinister, a shame a few scenes couldn't have been just a tad brighter. The masks, robes and costumes looked so good, they really did give it a Halloween vibe.

I'd say this is Brannagh's most accomplished turn as Poirot so far, the toned down moustache has definitely made a difference, he feels more like Poirot.

Well acted all round, Kelly Reilly is no stranger to Agatha Christie, she's excellent as Rowena, and as for the young man that played Leopold, he was great.

My one gripe, Ariadne, I'm not knocking Tina Fey, she did a good job, but when you read the books, I just don't see her as an American glamour puss, I wonder if we'll see her again.

I'm awarding an extra point for the fact that Branagh chose Halloween Party, and didn't opt for Evil under The Sun or Appointment with Death, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of those was number four.

It worked well, 8/10.

My Review- A Haunting in Venice My Rating 6/10

I was underwhelmed by Kenneth Branagh's latest interpretation of an Agatha Christie novel this one is based on her 1969 novel Halloween Party .

It was written late in the authors life to luke warm reviews one critic Robert Weaver wrote - Halloween Party is a disappointment,but with all her accomplishments is Christie can be forgiven some disappointments Poirot seems weary and so does the book.

It was filmed previously in 2010 for television starring my favourite Hercule Poirot David Suchet which I watched only after seeing A Haunting in Venice.

I must admit Kenneth Branagh who I like in some roles and not others is my least favourite characterisation of Hercule Poirot.

His first effort in 2017 Murder on the Orient Express also underwhelmed me but did exceedingly well at the box office however his last effort in 2022 Death on the Nile flopped and for me also had nothing of the grandeur or appeal of the original film adaptations.

All that needs to said about the plot line in this whodunnit is that Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot investigates a murder while attending a Halloween seance at a haunted palazzo in Venice, Italy.

I was expecting more from this new original adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Halloween Party that's set in the mysterious and spectacular city of Venice because it's a story I didn't know and I had no preconceived expectations.

Spectacular Venice is featured in the start and conclusion of this film but it's mostly set indoors in a gloomy gothic villa that could have been built on any movie set.

A Haunting in Venice for me fails in a few aspects primarily because of its dark gothic reworking from Kenneth Branagh. It's probably his best Hercule Poirot performance but for me his interpretation of the novel lacks The Agatha Christie touch of humour, eccentric characters and is trying to be something it's not a gothic horror movie it's not really scary at all just dark and brooding.

After I saw this movie I watched the 2010 television movie Hallowe'en Party starring David Suchet my favourite Hercule Poirot that bares no resemblance to A Haunting in Venice . It's not her greatest story but the television version has humour and lightness as well as suspense and the performances are much more impressive in my opinion.

There are some interesting actors in the cast of A Haunting in Venice including Michelle Yeoh who dropped out of The action adventure 2024 film The Electric State to star in this movie. Why she chose to do this I'm not sure because her role as the clairvoyant Mrs Reynolds is more a short cameo role as is Jamie Dornan's who plays Dr Ferrier .

The main supporting role is Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver a crime writer but she didn't shine for me either. Tina Fey plays a similar role in Only Murders in the Building as Cinda Canning but that role is edgy and funny which she does best .

With a much more modest production budget of $60 million than his last Agatha Christie move Death in Venice Kenneth Branagh who also directs this movie in my view features himself as Poirot more at the expense of the ensemble characters which is a mistake in an Agatha Christie movie.