I watched this adaptation last night and overall I was very impressed. Overall Agatha Christie Poirot is an adeptly made, classy and well acted series, and I have several favourites especially Five Little Pigs, Sad Cypress and After the Funeral. They have also had some misses such as Cards on the Table(actually very good until the last 30 minutes), The Murder of Roger Ackroyd(disappointing compared to the masterpiece that is the book) and Taken at the Flood(like Cards on the Table the ending completely let it down). Despite this, the series has more hits than misses, and fortunately Halloween Party is one of the hits.
The book is very good. More than one person on IMDb and outside of it remarked that it plods in the middle, that I agree with, but it has an intriguing story and memorable characters. This adaptation is very well done and one of my favourite recent Poirots actually. There are liberties taken of course, that I have no problems with, and these changes don't harm the story at all really. The story as to speak is just as riveting and intriguing as the book and is briskly paced. The adaptation also benefits from being well directed by Charles Palmer, and Mark Gatiss's script is very credible. I especially liked it when Poirot complains about his feet hurting and Ariadne goes on at him at wearing sensible shoes.
Halloween Party also has some beautiful production values. There are some atmospheric dark moments especially the beginning which was wonderful and some lovely autumnal ones. The photography is fluid, and the scenery and costumes are as always exquisite. The music is excellent too, simple yet hypnotic and effective. Then there is the acting which is superb. Mary Higgins was a good choice for Miranda and plays her well, while Julian Rhind-Tutt, Deborah Findley, Timothy West and Sophie Thompson are all excellent. Predictably, the best of the bunch are David Suchet who is outstanding once again as Poirot and Zoe Wannamaker who is a breath of fresh air as Ariadne.
All in all, very well done and actually one of my favourites. 9/10 Bethany Cox
The book is very good. More than one person on IMDb and outside of it remarked that it plods in the middle, that I agree with, but it has an intriguing story and memorable characters. This adaptation is very well done and one of my favourite recent Poirots actually. There are liberties taken of course, that I have no problems with, and these changes don't harm the story at all really. The story as to speak is just as riveting and intriguing as the book and is briskly paced. The adaptation also benefits from being well directed by Charles Palmer, and Mark Gatiss's script is very credible. I especially liked it when Poirot complains about his feet hurting and Ariadne goes on at him at wearing sensible shoes.
Halloween Party also has some beautiful production values. There are some atmospheric dark moments especially the beginning which was wonderful and some lovely autumnal ones. The photography is fluid, and the scenery and costumes are as always exquisite. The music is excellent too, simple yet hypnotic and effective. Then there is the acting which is superb. Mary Higgins was a good choice for Miranda and plays her well, while Julian Rhind-Tutt, Deborah Findley, Timothy West and Sophie Thompson are all excellent. Predictably, the best of the bunch are David Suchet who is outstanding once again as Poirot and Zoe Wannamaker who is a breath of fresh air as Ariadne.
All in all, very well done and actually one of my favourites. 9/10 Bethany Cox