Talking to a fellow IMDber on the Horror board during the 2013 October Challenge,I found out about a highly praised adaptation of 10 Little Indians which had been filmed in the Soviet Union.With having recently seen a wonderful stage adaptation of the novel,I felt that with my 600th review coming up,that it was the perfect time to see the novel transferred to the big screen.
The plot:
Each receiving a letter from a Mr and Mrs Owen inviting them to an isolated (private) island near Devon,a group of 8 strangers get off a boat,and walk towards the Owens country mansion.Entering the mansion,the group is shocked to find no sign of the Owens at all,with the only people around being 2 newly hired servants,who have been given written instructions about when dinner should be served.
Getting comfortable in their bedrooms,the guests discover a framed poem in each of the rooms,which is about how a group of 8 people are killed 1 by 1.Sitting down for dinner,the servants put a record on.To everyone surprise,the record appears to be a recording made my Mr Own,who lists all the activates that the guests have done,which led to the (wrongful) deaths of individual's.Trying to make sense of what's taking place,one of the guest suddenly drops to the ground after taking a drink.Checking the glass,it is discovered that the glass contained a small amount of poison.Taking a look at the 10 figures on the table,the group discover to their horror that 1 figure has weirdly disappeared
View on the film:
While the title was shot in a location that was not exactly Agatha Christie's English country house mansion, (in this case, Crimea)writer/director Stanislav Govorukhin cooks up an extraordinary,chilling atmosphere.Closely working with cinematographer Gennadi Engstrem, Govorukhin gives the film an unexpected poetic quality,with the windows in the mansion being used to reveal the overlap in each of the guests lives.
Along with the stylish window shots, Govorukhin also builds a strong feeling of isolation,thanks to Govorukhin using tightly coiled side angles to show the endless waves and rocks that the mansion is surrounded by.Showing a real Giallo edge, Govorukhin gives each of the mansion murders an ultra-stylised appearance,with Govorukhin using various stocks of film to go back in time to show the events that cause each of the deaths.
Sticking extremely close to Christie's novel (with this being the only adaptation to feature the original ending,and also not to change any of the characters from the book) Govorukhin avoids the risk of the adaptation being a dry affair by giving the movie a real burst of infectious energy,with Govorukhin painting each of the group with a deep sense of dread,as they start to see the cursed poem come to life.
The plot:
Each receiving a letter from a Mr and Mrs Owen inviting them to an isolated (private) island near Devon,a group of 8 strangers get off a boat,and walk towards the Owens country mansion.Entering the mansion,the group is shocked to find no sign of the Owens at all,with the only people around being 2 newly hired servants,who have been given written instructions about when dinner should be served.
Getting comfortable in their bedrooms,the guests discover a framed poem in each of the rooms,which is about how a group of 8 people are killed 1 by 1.Sitting down for dinner,the servants put a record on.To everyone surprise,the record appears to be a recording made my Mr Own,who lists all the activates that the guests have done,which led to the (wrongful) deaths of individual's.Trying to make sense of what's taking place,one of the guest suddenly drops to the ground after taking a drink.Checking the glass,it is discovered that the glass contained a small amount of poison.Taking a look at the 10 figures on the table,the group discover to their horror that 1 figure has weirdly disappeared
View on the film:
While the title was shot in a location that was not exactly Agatha Christie's English country house mansion, (in this case, Crimea)writer/director Stanislav Govorukhin cooks up an extraordinary,chilling atmosphere.Closely working with cinematographer Gennadi Engstrem, Govorukhin gives the film an unexpected poetic quality,with the windows in the mansion being used to reveal the overlap in each of the guests lives.
Along with the stylish window shots, Govorukhin also builds a strong feeling of isolation,thanks to Govorukhin using tightly coiled side angles to show the endless waves and rocks that the mansion is surrounded by.Showing a real Giallo edge, Govorukhin gives each of the mansion murders an ultra-stylised appearance,with Govorukhin using various stocks of film to go back in time to show the events that cause each of the deaths.
Sticking extremely close to Christie's novel (with this being the only adaptation to feature the original ending,and also not to change any of the characters from the book) Govorukhin avoids the risk of the adaptation being a dry affair by giving the movie a real burst of infectious energy,with Govorukhin painting each of the group with a deep sense of dread,as they start to see the cursed poem come to life.