When Darkness Falls

A detective story in the style of Agatha Christie, in a Swedish version, in the case from the writer Maria Lang who, born in 1914, 24 years after the famous British writer, was probably a disciple of hers, influenced by her engaging style and the homicidal plots in small, closed circles, limiting the search for the murderer to a restricted number of suspects, which so pleased the queen of crime, almost like a game in which the reader is called to participate.

Here we have a small provincial town and a bloody murder on Christmas Eve. Apparently no one is a suspect and the victim was liked by everyone, but little by little, secrets are revealed, and suspicion sets in, against almost all the inhabitants.

An interesting police film for fans of the genre, but it adds nothing to the hundreds of similar films that have already been made, around the world.

A whodunit, taking place in the wonderful Xmas time , complete with cribs,Xmas trees , rehearsals of carols (notably snatches of French traditional "Minuit Chrétiens " (O Holy night) )and landscapes covered with snow. A murder is committed and almost all people around had a reason to do away with the victim :fortunately a local Hercule Poirot is at hand ; it's exactly Christie's pattern ,but the riddle is not as strong as her best .

There are red herrings (one of them is rather far-fetched), shadows and light, a meeting in the cemetery (the climax of the movie) and the suspects include a minister's pretty niece ,a stiff housekeeper in Du Maurier's Mrs Danvers 's mold , gossip old ladies ,the victim's sexy wife, a young anarchist -who might be a commie -,a drunkard ,and a little girl who plays the occasional detective ( like Josephine in Christie's "crooked house") ..... And the culprit is a little unexpected ;it lacks tempo ,it sometime drags on, but it uses the yuletide efficiently.

This Swedish murder mystery is set at Christmas in a quiet rural town. As it starts Elisabeth, an orphaned girl from Stockholm, arrives to stay with relatives; the vicar, his wife and their young daughter Lotta. On Christmas Eve the keeper of the village store is brutally murdered. Police inspector Christer Wijk is in charge of the investigation. There are plenty of suspects but finding out just who is to blame won't be easy.

I thought this was an enjoyable mystery. The small town family setting reminded me of Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt', even though in that film the identity of the killer isn't a mystery and the plot feels like it could have been taken from Agatha Christie. There are plenty of suspects and motives that should keep the viewer guessing till the end. I must admit the final reveal came as a surprise to me. The cast is solid; some of the acting may seem a little over theatrical at times, at least to modern audiences but that is hardly a problem. There are a few obvious contrivances... twice Lotta gets into danger while looking for her cat. Overall though I found this to be a pretty good film and would recommend it to anybody who enjoys older films and wants a decent mystery.

These comments are based on watching the film in Swedish with English subtitles.

This thriller in the Agatha Christie vein could have been much better that it is. The actors are all well known in Sweden and Nils Asther even made a Hollywood career. The snowbound setting is atmospheric even if it is spoiled by the very theatrical looking graveyard. Arne Mattsson had before he made this had much success with a few thrillers where his unique sense of movement and lighting overcame silly storylines, much like Mario Bava in Italy. Most notably maybe in "Mannekäng i rött", an elegant technicolor thriller. This movie has a story that takes place around Christmas and New Years eve. There is a murder and more suspects than I have the strength to name here. The start of the picture isn't half-bad but soon stiff acting and silly dialogue destroy whatever mood there was in the beginning. As long as the actors are doing everyday chores and such thing, they seem quite natural. But once they are to display emotions of fear and dread, they act like cardboard cut-outs or hamming it up terribly. A few suspenseful sequences and a nice score cannot help this one I'm afraid. If you want to get familiar with Arne Mattsson and his particular visual style, watch "Mannekäng i rött" or "Vita frun" instead. They may look old-fashioned now, but at least they are hugely entertaining.