Mystery Movie Review-A Haunting in Venice vs Hallowe'en Party

A Haunting in Venice (2023) is very loosely inspired by the 1969 book Halloween Party by Agatha Christie, her 31st novel to feature Hercule Poirot.  The only other adaptation/filming of the book was for the Hercules Poirot series in 2007-released 2010 (Season 12 episode 2).

What's It About:

In 1947, post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, while employing ex–police officer Vitale Portfoglio to act as a bodyguard. On Halloween, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver convinces Poirot to attend a Halloween party and séance at the palazzo of famed opera singer Rowena Drake and to expose Joyce Reynolds, a World War I army nurse turned medium, as a fraud. The palazzo itself is claimed to be haunted by the spirits of children who, when the palazzo was an orphanage, were locked up and left to die when a plague swept through the city, with rumors that the spirits torment any nurses and doctors who dare to enter.

Rowena has hired Joyce to help her commune with her daughter Alicia, who reportedly died by suicide after her fiancé, chef Maxime Gerard, broke off their engagement. Among the guests in attendance are Maxime, Rowena's housekeeper Olga Seminoff, Drake family doctor Leslie Ferrier and his son Leopold, and Joyce's Romani assistant Desdemona Holland.

Director:  Kenneth Branagh

Writers: Michael Green and "Agatha Christie"

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot

Michelle Yeoh as Joyce Reynolds

Jamie Dornan as  Dr. Leslie Ferrier

Kelly Reilly (Pride & Prejudice) as  Rowena Drake

Jude Hill as Leopold Ferrier

Tina Fey as  Ariadne Oliver

Dylan Corbett-Bader as  Baker

Amir El-Masry as Alessandro Longo

Riccardo Scamarcio as Vitale Portfoglio

Fernando Piloni as Vincenzo Di Stefano

Reviews:  Rotten Tomatoes: 76% 

The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

"The film resonates with qualities found in classics of the genre by Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, and is simultaneously reminiscent in its aggressive theatrical approach to Branagh’s own neo-noir thriller “Dead Again” from 1991." Lee Zumpe of Tampa Bay Newspapers

"A Haunting in Venice is an adequate mystery, with shadows, mystique and a plot with twists and turns." Marie Asner of Phantom Tollbooth

"It's beautifully shot, perfectly set, and filled with great actors - and it's even mercifully under 2 hours. So if you want a good pre-Halloween snack with some chills and thrills but isn't too much, this is a fun one for you."  Paul Salfen of AMFM Magazine

Trivia 

The film had its red carpet premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square at the West End London on September 11 with none of the cast members in attendance due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Clinched No. 1 on its opening weekend in the UK, Spain and Italy, but not in the USA.

Filmed on location in Venice. Branagh wanted to use as many physical sets possible for filming.

Released on September 15, 2023, Dame Agatha Christie's 133rd birthday.

Michelle Yeoh dropped out of The Electric State (2024) to star in this movie.

As of November 2023, this is the least successful Poirot movie by Kenneth Branagh on the box office world wide.

Sir Kenneth Branagh worked with the technical department to cause surprises for the cast. The actors were not warned about lights going out suddenly, or gusts of wind and slamming doors on the sets in which they worked, causing genuine confused and startled reactions from the actors to appear in the film. Kelly Reilly confirmed that filming the seance scene was a terrifying experience saying in an interview, "It scared the bejesus out of me."

Dr. Farrier mentions that medical staff accidentally killed the starving concentration camp prisoners they had liberated with milk. This is actually possible, and is caused by a condition known as "Refeeding Syndrome."

Bergen-Belsen, mentioned as the source of Dr. Farrier's trauma, was a real concentration camp during WW2, and was the camp Anne Frank died in.

Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill previously played father and son in Belfast (2021), also directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh.

My Thoughts:

Plot is nowhere near the same plot as Christie's book, things are so changed around that it is a different story all together than Agatha Christie and I don't think the changes made the mystery any better.  The characters may have had the same names but were completely changed and the motive and setups of murder and even killer were all different.  

The acting had some shining stars, in particular Michelle Yeoh as the medium and twelve-year-old Jude Hill as the boy Leopold Ferrier gave outstanding performances.  Jamie Dornan as  Dr. Leslie Ferrier and Kelly Reilly as Rowena Drake gave a good performances as well.  The music was particularly well done and added to the near horror mood.  Cinematography was dark (everything is dark, darker than the prior two) but intense and has the signature Branagh camera angles and style.

If I look at this as a mystery in the tradition of Christie only, I would consider it an entertaining and spooky movie, not necesarrily great, but enough.

Original "Halloween Party" Season 12 Episode 2 July 2007

During an English village's Hallowe'en party held in a mannor home, a young girl boasts of having witnessed a murder from years before. No one believes her tale until her body is found later on in the evening, drowned in the apple-bobbing bucket.

The popular author who was at the party contacts Poirot to rush to the village and solve the young girl's murder. He believes the girl's death is because she claimed to witness a murder several years prior and sets about to discover who was murdered years before (probably what was thought a suicide) and uncover who killed the young girl to keep the murder she claimed to witness quiet.  

David Sucket is the epitome of Christie's character and brings some humor to Poirot in this movie as well as his sensitivity to young people.  The story follows the book pretty closely.  The story is a little dark and has gothic/spooky touches but not bordering on horror atmosphere.  At no point in the story is Poirot disturbed by the deaths, mystery, or "haunted" by the spirits like the 2023 version.

Filmed at: Beckley Park, Beckley, Oxfordshire, England, UK (In particular: Topiary garden of the Drake residence) 

My Thoughts:

I really enjoy the original for its being close to the book.  It is a classic British mystery with plenty of twists upon twists in the plot.  David Suchet is the embodiment of Hercules Poirot-full stop. Although I enjoy Peter Ustinov's portrayals, David Suchet became Poirot completely and his acting is nuanced.  For this reason I always enjoy watching his portrayals of the greatest detective.  This version isn't as flashy or fast paced as Haunting, but I find it more entertaining since I enjoy British paced mysteries.  I will probably watch this version again and again, but not the 2023 Haunting.

DID YOU SEE BOTH?  What did you think of them?  Leave a comment please.