This is my fourth Julia McKenzie Marple after Pocket Full of Rye, They do it with Mirrors and Pale Horse. She is getting really warm on me. I'm a big fan of Geraldine McEwan, who used to play Marple, so I was cautious with the new Marple. Well, Julia McKenzie is a very different Marple. I wanna congratulate her for not copying Geraldine. Her approach to the character is more active (since she's 10 years younger) and seams more worried. I like her, it still is Marple, but she's certainly different.
As for the story, I was shocked. If anyone saw butchery that is Poirot: Halloween Party (very good film, butchery as in many dead, not as in destroying the story), then you'd have an idea of what I wanna say. Usually there are 1-3 dead bodies per episode, and usually we wait for one third of the episode to pass before the murder is committed. Not here! So, in the opening sequence a murder victim has been buried, at her funeral another person is killed and by the ten minutes of the film we have four deaths. And lets say that's not all. Plus some cold cases that are connected.
It really adds suspense. Just like Hallowe'en Party, I have a feeling that if a director wanted to make a horror film, it could have been done with some very slight changes of perspective. You always have the feeling someone's gonna die. And usually they do. And the person or persons who did it all is completely different personality than you're used to as well.
Cast is excellent (like in all Marple/Poirot movies). I knew many of them: Benedict Cumberbatch from The Atonement, Sylvia Syms from The Queen, Lyndsey Marshal from Poirot: Cards on the Table, Shirley Henderson from Harry Potter and Anna Chancellor from Hitchhiker's Guide Through the Galaxy. Also, my new discovery was Margo Stilley, who is just too beautiful. Everyone did their best, so it was very nice seeing them in different roles.
As for those who say the movie has to be identical to the book, and that therefor this isn't Agatha Christie, I say: It says: BASED UPON, not literally copied. I loved all the books, but I also loved all the changes so far. Some of them are also modernizing it a bit, like opening some subjects that exist (and existed back then too), but were too much of a taboo for that time. I'm sure Agatha wouldn't mind people changing it a bit from time to time. This one is not an exception, it turned out just great.
If you love mysteries and/or horror, recommendation to see.
As for the story, I was shocked. If anyone saw butchery that is Poirot: Halloween Party (very good film, butchery as in many dead, not as in destroying the story), then you'd have an idea of what I wanna say. Usually there are 1-3 dead bodies per episode, and usually we wait for one third of the episode to pass before the murder is committed. Not here! So, in the opening sequence a murder victim has been buried, at her funeral another person is killed and by the ten minutes of the film we have four deaths. And lets say that's not all. Plus some cold cases that are connected.
It really adds suspense. Just like Hallowe'en Party, I have a feeling that if a director wanted to make a horror film, it could have been done with some very slight changes of perspective. You always have the feeling someone's gonna die. And usually they do. And the person or persons who did it all is completely different personality than you're used to as well.
Cast is excellent (like in all Marple/Poirot movies). I knew many of them: Benedict Cumberbatch from The Atonement, Sylvia Syms from The Queen, Lyndsey Marshal from Poirot: Cards on the Table, Shirley Henderson from Harry Potter and Anna Chancellor from Hitchhiker's Guide Through the Galaxy. Also, my new discovery was Margo Stilley, who is just too beautiful. Everyone did their best, so it was very nice seeing them in different roles.
As for those who say the movie has to be identical to the book, and that therefor this isn't Agatha Christie, I say: It says: BASED UPON, not literally copied. I loved all the books, but I also loved all the changes so far. Some of them are also modernizing it a bit, like opening some subjects that exist (and existed back then too), but were too much of a taboo for that time. I'm sure Agatha wouldn't mind people changing it a bit from time to time. This one is not an exception, it turned out just great.
If you love mysteries and/or horror, recommendation to see.