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"A Haunting in Venice" is the best of Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot movies. It's also one of Branagh's best, period, thanks to the way Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green dismantle and reinvent the source material (Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party ) to create a relentlessly clever, visually dense "old" movie that uses the latest technology.

Set mainly in a palazzo that seems as immense as Xanadu or Castle Elsinore (it's a blend of actual Venice locations, London soundstages, and visual effects), the movie is threaded with intimations of supernatural activity, most of the action occurs during a tremendous thunderstorm, and the violence pushes the PG-13 rating to its breaking point. It's fun with a dark streak: imagine a ghastly gothic cousin of " Clue ," or of something like Branagh's own " Dead Again ," which revolved around past lives. At the same time, amid the expected twists and gruesome murders, "A Haunting in Venice" is an empathetic portrayal of the death-haunted mentality of people from Branagh's parents' generation who came through World War II with psychic scars, wondering what had been won.

The original Christie novel was published in 1969 and set in then-present-day Woodleigh Common, England. The adaptation transplants the story to Venice, sets it over 20 years earlier, gives it an international cast of characters thick with British expats, and retains just a few elements, including the violent death of a young girl in the recent past and the insinuating presence of an Agatha Christie-like crime novelist named Ariadne Oliver ( Tina Fey ), who takes credit for creating Poirot's reputation by making him a character in her writing. Aridane tracks down Poirot in a Venice apartment, where he's retired from detective work and seemingly in existential crisis (though one he'd never discuss without being asked). He seems resolved to a life of aloneness, which is not the same as loneliness. He tells Ariadne he doesn't have friends and doesn't need any.

Ariadne's sales have slumped, so she draws Poirot back into sleuthing by pushing him to attend a Halloween Night seance at the aforementioned home, hoping to produce material that will give her another hit. The medium is a celebrity in her own right: Joyce Reynolds ( Michelle Yeoh ), a character named after the untrustworthy little girl in the original Christie story who claims to have witnessed a murder. Reynolds plans to communicate with a murder victim, Alicia Drake ( Rowan Robinson ), the teenage daughter of the palazzo's owner, former opera singer Rowena Drake ( Kelly Reilly ), and hopefully learn who did the deed.

There are, of course, many others gathered in the palazzo. All become suspects in Alicia's murder as well as the subsequent cover-up killings that ensue in these kinds of stories. Poirot locks himself and the rest of the ensemble in the palazzo and announces that no one can leave until he's figured things out. The gallery of possibles includes a wartime surgeon named Leslie Ferrier ( Jamie Dornan ) who suffers from severe PTSD; Ferrier's precocious son Leopold ( Jude Hill , the young lead in Branagh's " Belfast "), who is 12 going on 40 and asks unnerving questions; Rowena’s housekeeper Olga Seminoff ( Camille Cottin ); Maxime Gerard ( Kyle Allen ), Alicia’s former boyfriend; and Mrs. Reynolds’ assistants Desdemona and Nicholas Holland ( Emma Laird and Ali Khan ), war refugees who are half-siblings.

It would be unsporting to say much about the rest of the plot. Reading the book won't give anything important away because—even more so than in Branagh's previous Poirot films—the kinship between source and adaptation is a bit like the later James Bond films, which might take a title, some character names and locations, and one or two ideas, and invent everything else. Green, who also wrote the recent " Death on the Nile " as well as " Blade Runner 2049 " and much of the series "American Gods," is a reliably excellent screenwriter of fresh stories inspired by canonical material. His work keeps one eye on commerce and the other on art. He regularly reminds nostalgia-motivated viewers in the "intellectual property" era of why they like something. At the same time, he introduces provocative new elements and attempts a different tone or focus than audiences probably expected. (The introduction to the movie tie-in paperback of Christie's novel has an introduction by Green that starts with him confessing to a murder of "the book you are holding.")

Accordingly, this Poirot mystery aligns itself with popular culture made in Allied countries after World War II. Classic post-war English-language films like " The Best Years of Our Lives ," " The Third Man ," "The Fallen Idol," and mid-career Welles films like " Touch of Evil " and "The Trial" (to name just a few classics that Branagh seems keenly aware of) were not just engrossing, beautifully crafted entertainments, but illustrations of a pervasive collective feeling of moral exhaustion and soiled idealism—the result of living through a six-year period that showcased previously unimaginable horrors, including Stalingrad, Normandy, the mechanized extermination of the Holocaust, and the use of atomic bombs against civilians. And so the embittered Poirot is a seeming atheist who practically sneers at speaking to the dead. Green and Branagh even give him a monologue about his disillusionment that evokes comments made about Christie near the end of her life, and in the novel, about what she perceived as increasingly cruel tendencies in humanity as a whole, reflected in the sorts of crimes that were being committed.

Aside from a few period-specific details and references, the source seems to exist outside of the time in which it was written. Branagh and Green's movie goes in the opposite direction. It's very much of the late 1940s. The children in the film are orphans of war and post-war occupation (soldiers fathered some of them, then went back home without taking responsibility for their actions). There's talk of "battle fatigue," which is what PTSD was called during World War II; in the previous world war, they called it "shell shock." The plot hinges on the economic desperation of native citizens, previously moneyed expatriates who are too emotionally and often financially shattered to recapture the way of life they had before the war, and the mostly Eastern European refugees who didn't have much to start with and do the country's grunt work. The overriding sense is that some of these characters would literally kill to get back to being what they were.

Branagh was compared to Orson Welles early in his career for obvious reasons. He was a wunderkind talent who became internationally famous in his twenties and often starred in projects he originated and oversaw. He had one foot in theater and the other in film. He loved the classics (Shakespeare especially) and popular film genres (including musicals and horror). He had an impresario's sense of showmanship and the ego to go with it. He's never been more brazenly Wellesian than he is here. This film has a "big" feeling, as Welles' films always did, even when they were made for pocket change. But it's not full of itself, wasteful or pokey; like a Welles film, it gets in and out of every scene as fast as possible, and clocks in at 107 minutes, including credits.

Film history aficionados may appreciate the many visual acknowledgments of the master's filmography, including ominous views of Venice that reference Welles' "Othello" and a screeching cockatoo straight out of " Citizen Kane ." At times, it feels as if Branagh conducted a seance and channeled Welles' spirit, as well as that of other directors who worked in a black-and-white, expressionistic, Gothic-flavored, very Wellesian style (including "The Third Man" director Carol Reed and "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Seven Days in May" director John Frankenheimer ). Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos have also mentioned Richard Brooks's 1967 adaptation of " In Cold Blood " and Masaki Kobayashi's "Kwaidan" as influences. The movie deploys fish-eye lenses, dutch tilts, hilariously ominous close-ups of significant objects (including a creepy cuckoo clock), extreme low- and high-angles, and deep-focus compositions that arrange the actors from foreground to deep background, with window and door frames, sections of furniture, and sometimes actors' bodies dicing up the shot to create additional frames-within-the-frame.

Like post-millennial Michael Mann and Steven Soderbergh movies, "A Haunting in Venice" was shot digitally (albeit in IMAX resolution) and lets the medium be what it naturally is. The low-light interior scenes make no attempt to simulate film stock, depriving viewers of that "comfort food" feeling that comes from seeing a movie set in the past that uses actual film or tries for a "film look." The result is unbalancing, in a fascinating way. The images have a mesmerizing hyper-clarity and a shimmering, otherworldly aspect. In tight close-ups of actors, their eyes seem to have been lit from within.

Branagh and editor Lucy Donaldson time the cuts so that the more ostentatious images (such as a rat crawling out of a stone gargoyle's mouth, and Poirot and Ariadne seen through the metal screen of a fireplace, flames in the foreground) are on-screen just long enough for the viewer to register what they see, and laugh at how far the movie is willing to go for the effect. Movies are rarely directed in this style anymore, in any format, and it's a shame, because when they are, the too-muchness can be intoxicating.

Available in theaters on September 15th.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements.

104 minutes

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot

Kyle Allen as Maxime Gerard

Camille Cottin as Olga Seminoff

Jamie Dornan as Dr Leslie Ferrier

Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver

Jude Hill as Leopold Ferrier

Ali Khan as Nicholas Holland

Emma Laird as Desdemona Holland

Kelly Reilly as Rowena Drake

Michelle Yeoh as Joyce Reynolds

Dylan Corbett-Bader as Baker

Amir El-Masry as Alessandro Longo

Fernando Piloni as Vincenzo Di Stefano

Kenneth Branagh

Writer (based upon the novel "Hallowe'en Party" by)

Agatha Christie
Michael Green

Cinematographer

Haris Zambarloukos
Lucy Donaldson
Hildur Guðnadóttir

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‘A Haunting in Venice’ Review: A Whodunit With a Splash of Horror

Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in this adaptation of a ghostly mystery from Agatha Christie, with assists from Michelle Yeoh and Tina Fey.

in a film still, a man with a bushy curled mustache is seen in front of a shadowed cross against a red backdrop.

By Jason Zinoman

What genre does “A Haunting in Venice” belong to?

Twirl a mustache and join me on the case. Our first clue is that Kenneth Branagh is playing Hercule Poirot in his third adaptation of an Agatha Christie story. So, this would appear to be an open-and-shut case. Add a murder in a spooky house peopled by suspects, and you have all the hallmarks of a classic locked-room mystery. But Christie fans will quickly deduce that the screenwriter Michael Green has departed considerably from “Hallowe’en Party,” the original source material from 1969, one of her later, lesser books, adding elements that move into the realm of supernatural horror. Be on guard for misdirection.

A glum Poirot, retired from solving cases, has been invited to attend a séance where a famous opera singer, Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), wants to contact her dead daughter. The medium (or fraud?) is played with brio by Michelle Yeoh, and her psychic powers present a challenge to the stony rationality of the aging detective. Unlike his relatively faithful, innocuously entertaining versions of “ Murder on the Orient Express ” and “ Death on the Nile ,” Branagh is pushing into ghostly new territory, leaning on scary-movie tropes such as scurrying rats, jump scares and that old standby, a face popping up in the mirror.

It’s a bit gloomy as a mystery, but perfunctory as horror. Too talky, for one thing. Branagh, who dabbled in gothic terror early in his career when he made “Frankenstein,” has more of a feel for actorly grand guignol than the pace of cinematic-scare sequences. Just when you are about to return to the whodunit, there’s an invigorating twist, spurred largely by the presence of Tina Fey, who, between this movie and her wryly satirical flourishes as an opportunistic podcaster in the series “Only Murders in the Building,” is getting awfully skilled at playing a potential killer. Fey here embodies the sharp-tongued Ariadne Oliver, a mystery author with a screwball cadence, touchy about her critical reception.

Fey introduces a comedic energy into the movie, talking out of the side of her mouth while accompanying Poirot. She adds some much-needed fizzy carbonation to the stiff drink of mystery solving. Branagh wants to tell a story of a shaken, brooding Poirot struggling with decline, but luckily, camp humor intrudes. When he aims his preposterous accent at the French actress Camille Cottin, who plays a housekeeper, it makes you think a good time was had on set.

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A Haunting in Venice Reviews

[W]hen Branagh plays up the despair lurking inside Poirot, A Haunting in Venice illustrates the battle between doubt and faith

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 20, 2024

... you’ll probably solve the mystery faster than Poirot.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 6, 2024

A captivating whodunit boosted by an evocative setting and stellar cast performances, it is a cinematic experience that not only keeps viewers guessing until the very end, but also leaves us haunted by its themes long after the credits roll.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 10, 2024

It's just as well Branagh changed the title, because — location switch aside — there's almost nothing here that recalls the original story aside from Poirot, some of the other characters' names, and the presence of an apple bobbing tub.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 25, 2024

I love all three of Branagh's Poirot films for this thread of a broken man exploited and celebrated but desperate for a human connection to ground him in the world of the living...

Full Review | Jan 4, 2024

Enjoyably melodramatic and nicely unnerving, though the tendency to shoot from above and at odd angles becomes headache-inducing, especially when one is trying to work out whodunnit (or indeed woohoodunnit). Camille Cottin and Emma Laird are stand-outs.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 1, 2024

A likable, "good enough" mix of mystery and supernatural thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Dec 27, 2023

For his second act - the best and most colorful - Branagh manages to sustain his film with tricks of the horror genre as old as they are elementary. But in this nightmarish Venice, they are beautiful and elegant. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Dec 24, 2023

Reynolds leads Poirot to a Halloween party in a decaying and haunted palazzo, which provides the perfect backdrop for a spooky, jump-filled series of incidents.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 8, 2023

Taut and effective.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Dec 4, 2023

Branagh’s confidence in direction is strong as ever with a narrative half-predicated on thoughtful sound design that equally hinges on his performance, the use of depth in frame draws the eye to clues and behavior while setting the mood

Full Review | Original Score: 74/100 | Nov 19, 2023

As a review, this film feels like a detective film from days past, younger audiences might want more, but those who enjoy a slow reveal will have a good time. It gets a B grade from me.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 13, 2023

It’s not the same kind of reliable guilty pleasure we expect these vehicles to be [...] but this outing of Branagh’s Poirot is at least an interesting experiment in expanding these stories' usual limits.

Full Review | Nov 4, 2023

Stunningly cinematically accomplished that it is, this whirlwind spectacle comes out short in the one thing that matters most in a mystery – the story itself. [...] Feels like a hollowed-out pumpkin, minus the candlelight.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 3, 2023

Branagh’s third outing as Poirot is the charm... playing in the what-if gray area opens up options for some great visuals, startling reactions, and cranking up the spooky factor.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 2, 2023

In Branagh’s relatively prolific corner of the playground, the real mystery continues to be how Poirot maintains that motherf—er on his face.

Full Review | Nov 1, 2023

The secret ingredient has been none other than adapting Agatha Christie through the lens of gothic horror; a subtle twist that instantly turns the fantastic 'Mystery in Venice' into the most stimulating and enjoyable installment of the trilogy.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Oct 31, 2023

Hercule Poirot is back in this mildly entertaining whodunit with supernatural touches. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 28, 2023

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.

Full Review | Oct 26, 2023

A Haunting in Venice elevates well-worn genre tropes with exceptional casting and filmmaking flair to create a satisfying experience.

Full Review | Oct 25, 2023

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The big twist in 'A Haunting in Venice'? It's actually a great film

Justin Chang

Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh join Kenneth Branagh in A Haunting in Venice. Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection hide caption

Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh join Kenneth Branagh in A Haunting in Venice.

You can always count on Agatha Christie for a surprise, and the big twist in A Haunting in Venice is that it's actually a pretty terrific movie.

I say this as a die-hard Christie fan who didn't much care for Kenneth Branagh 's earlier adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Charming as he was in the role of Hercule Poirot, the movies themselves felt like lavish but superfluous retreads of two of the author's best-known classics.

One of the lessons of A Haunting in Venice is that sometimes, it's a good idea to go with weaker source material. Christie's 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party is one of her thinner whodunits, and Branagh and his screenwriter, Michael Green, have smartly overhauled the story, which is now set in 1947 Venice. They've also gleefully embraced the Halloween theme, taking the cozy conventions of the detective story and pushing them in the direction of a full-blown haunted-house thriller.

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'murder on the orient express' and cozy murder mysteries.

OK, so the result isn't exactly Don't Look Now , the most richly atmospheric horror movie ever shot in Venice. But Branagh and his collaborators, especially the cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos and the production designer John Paul Kelly, have clearly fallen under the spell of one of the world's most beautiful and cinematically striking cities. While there are the expectedly scenic shots of gondolas and canals at sunset, most of the action takes place after dark at a magnificent palazzo owned by a famed opera singer, played by Kelly Reilly.

She's hosting a lavish Halloween party, where Poirot is one of the guests, tagging along with his longtime American friend, Ariadne Oliver, a popular mystery novelist played with snappy wit by Tina Fey . Also in attendance are Jamie Dornan as a troubled doctor and an entrancing Michelle Yeoh as a medium, known as "the unholy Mrs. Reynolds," who says she can speak to the dead.

Case Closed: Agatha Christie's Detective Poirot Solves His Last TV Mystery

Mrs. Reynolds performs a séance, hoping to contact the spirit of the opera singer's daughter, who died under mysterious circumstances at the palazzo a year earlier. Soon another death will take place: One of the party guests turns up murdered, and while Poirot is officially retired, he decides to take on the case. He even asks his mystery-writer friend, Miss Oliver, to help him interview suspects, though not before first questioning her about her whereabouts at the time of the killing.

As Poirot, Branagh is clearly having so much fun wearing that enormous mustache and speaking in that droll French accent that it's been hard not to enjoy his company, even when the movies have been lackluster. For once, though, the case he's investigating is just as pleasurable to get lost in.

Book Reviews

2 books investigate the mysteries of agatha christie and the golden state killer.

It's an unusually spooky story: The palazzo, we find out early on, is rumored to be haunted by the vengeful ghosts of children who died there years ago during an outbreak of the plague. Branagh piles on the freaky visuals and jolting sound effects, to the point where even a supreme skeptic like Poirot begins to question what's going on. These horror elements may be unabashedly creaky and derivative, but they work because the movie embraces them to the hilt.

A Haunting in Venice sometimes feels closer to the work of Christie's undersung contemporary John Dickson Carr, whose brilliant detective stories often flirted with the possibility of the supernatural. That said, the actual solution to the mystery, while clever enough, isn't especially ingenious or complicated.

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What gives the story its deeper resonance is its potent sense of time and place. It's just two years after the end of World War II, and many of the suspects have witnessed unspeakable horrors. The medium, Mrs. Reynolds, was a nurse during the war, which may account for why she feels such an affinity for the dead. Everyone, from the grieving opera singer to the doctor traumatized by his memories, seems to be mourning some kind of loss.

In Branagh's retelling, Poirot is himself a World War I veteran. One of the reasons he's such a staunch atheist is that he's seen too much cruelty and suffering to believe that God exists. He doesn't exactly change his mind by the end of A Haunting in Venice . But it's a testament to this movie's poignancy that Poirot emerges from his retirement with a renewed belief that he can still do some good in the world. He's eagerly looking forward to his next case, and so, to my delight, am I.

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A Haunting in Venice review: Kenneth Branagh scares up his best Poirot film yet

Branagh portrays Agatha Christie's favorite detective for the third time in this supernatural thriller.

Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine , The Hollywood Reporter , and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight , is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen.

While Kenneth Branagh 's first two outings as Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot were classic murder mysteries, A Haunting in Venice is, as its name suggests, most decidedly a ghost story.

The slight shift in tone and genre, leaning into the supernatural elements of the storytelling, does wonders for Branagh's take on Poirot, elevating the movie beyond the solid, if somewhat bland entertainment of the first two films. Additionally, while Branagh tackled two of Christie's most famous works in his initial efforts, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile , the lesser-known 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party serves as the source material this time, with screenwriter Michael Green diverging even further from the original story. The result is something altogether more inventive, surprising, and engaging.

Poirot — played again by Branagh, with his thick Belgian accent and piercing blue eyes that seem to discern all wrongdoing — has gone into retirement, holing up in Venice and refusing to take another case. As such, he takes a bit of a backseat to the action, which leaves him to do what he does best: solve murders. There's no pesky, overwrought backstory here, no mustache origin stories. Instead, Branagh inhabits Poirot with an affection and lived-in-ness befitting of his third go with a character he can now don like a favorite sweater.

When an old acquaintance, mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver ( Tina Fey ), visits Poirot, she invites him to attend a Halloween party and seance at the Palazzo of famed opera singer Rowena Drake ( Kelly Reilly ). Some months prior, Rowena's daughter, Alicia (Rowan Robinson), committed suicide by jumping from the balcony into the canal below. Desperate to hear her daughter's voice, Rowena recruits famed medium Mrs. Reynolds ( Michelle Yeoh ) to contact Alicia's spirit. But when the evening goes drastically wrong, the ensemble — which includes housekeeper Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), shell-shocked doctor Leslie Ferrier ( Jamie Dornan ), his precocious son Leopold ( Belfast's Jude Hill), and Reynolds' assistant Desdemona (Emma Laird) — find themselves locked in a house that boasts all manner of horrors.

Branagh, teaming with cinematographer and frequent collaborator Haris Zambarloukos, transforms the Palazzo into an off-kilter haunted house and relies on canted angles to indicate the unbalanced state of Poirot's mind. While Orient Express and Nile were designed to showcase the opulence of their settings, here Zambarloukos is much more inventive with his shot set-ups, using fish-eye lenses, tilted frames, darkness, shadow, and severe high and low angles to thrust the audience into this unsettling world.

Poirot and, by extension, the audience are never quite sure whether what they're seeing is real or not — and much of the film is built upon the legacy of ghost stories and how and why we choose to believe them. The design, from the cinematography to the art direction, enhance this sense of supernatural unease. We trust Poirot to have an explanation for everything, but what happens when he simply does not? That's the question at the heart of the action, a ghostly war between Poirot's reliance on deduction and logic and the far more human, irrational foibles of loss, greed, obsession, and the unexplainable.

Branagh leads a strong ensemble here. Yeoh is satisfyingly mercenary and chilling as Ms. Reynolds, toeing the line between canny businesswoman and purveyor of spiritualism in a way that keeps us guessing. While Cottin, largely unknown to American audiences, is inscrutable in the best way, her stern exterior belying her kindly heart.

Fey offers some of her strongest work in years. Generally, she plays a heightened version of herself, but here she is a heavily fictionalized play on Christie, a mystery novelist responsible for Poirot's fame. As Oliver, she is spritely, a tad vain, and a mercurial presence that keeps Poirot and the audience on their toes. At first glance, Fey seems an odd fit for a period piece; she's so firmly associated with a specific brand of modern comedy. But she sinks into the world with gusto, complete with a believable, delightful transatlantic accent.

Dornan, who Branagh featured so exquisitely in Belfast, is a bit underused here as a doctor coming apart at the seams. But his chemistry with Hill, who reprises the father-son relationship with Dornan after Belfast , is perfection — and Hill continues to grow as a natural actor who pulls your eye straight to him in every scene. Branagh has found a real talent in the young performer and continues to mold him admirably.

Perhaps what is most satisfying about A Haunting in Venice is the ways in which it continually surprises. Where the previous Christie adaptations felt by the book, Venice startles at every turn and isn't afraid of jump scares and genuine moments of horror. It is more mystery or thriller than scary movie — and it effectively takes up the themes of the greatest mystery writers, the ways in which grief, trauma, and loss defy even the most rational of brains. The most frightening thing of all isn't the prospect of ghosts, but the ways in which our choices and our pasts haunt us more effectively than any supernatural specter could.

Amidst all this, Venice is also just a heck of a lot of fun, from its eerie Venetian mask costumes to the intriguing ways in which its central mysteries unfold. With heaps of atmosphere and a general spookiness, it's the perfect choice for a Halloween party. Grade: B

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‘a haunting in venice’ review: michelle yeoh and tina fey join kenneth branagh in his snoozy agatha christie adaptation.

A Halloween seance in a dark palazzo brings detective Hercule Poirot out of retirement in Branagh's third run at the role.

By Caryn James

Caryn James

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Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 'A Haunting in Venice.'

Like Agatha Christie herself, Kenneth Branagh found a reliable formula for mysteries. In his two previous adaptations of Christie novels, he directed and played the cerebral detective Hercule Poirot amid a star-filled cast, in an exotic location with at least one killer on the loose. Murder on the Orient Express (2017), with Michelle Pfeiffer and Johnny Depp, had an enjoyably retro, over-the-top style. Death on the Nile (2022) was a bit less starry and diverting.

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A Haunting in Venice

Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, Emma Laird, Jude Hill, Riccardo Scamarcio, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Kyle Allen, and Ali Khan in A Haunting in Venice (2023)

In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once a... Read all In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer. In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

Kenneth Branagh
Michael Green
Agatha Christie
Michelle Yeoh
Jamie Dornan
502 User reviews
254 Critic reviews
63 Metascore
6 wins & 4 nominations

Top cast 26

Hercule Poirot

Joyce Reynolds

Dr Leslie Ferrier

Ariadne Oliver

Alessandro Longo

Vitale Portfoglio

Vincenzo Di Stefano

Puppet Show MC

Olga Seminoff

Rowena Drake

Leopold Ferrier
Child (Cookie Gobbler)
Child (Crying Girl)

Alicia Drake

Desdemona Holland

Child (Staircase 1)
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Trivia 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."
Goofs In her flashback scene, despite being a former nun, Olga Seminoff is seen crossing herself with her left instead of her right (correct) hand.

Ariadne Oliver : Scary stories make real life a little less scary

Connections Featured in The Project: Episode dated 22 September 2023 (2023)
Soundtracks When the Lights Go on Again Written by Bennie Benjamin , Sol Marcus and Eddie Seiler Performed by Vera Lynn Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews 502

benjaminskylerhill
Sep 14, 2023
How long is A Haunting in Venice? Powered by Alexa
September 15, 2023 (United States)
United States
20thcenturystudios
Film Sözlük
Án Mạng Ở Venice
Campiello dei Miracoli, Campo Santa Maria Nova, Venezia, Italy (Street scene)
20th Century Studios
Kinberg Genre
Scott Free Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$60,000,000 (estimated)
$42,471,412
$14,279,529
Sep 17, 2023
$122,290,456

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 43 minutes
Dolby Atmos
IMAX 6-Track

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A Haunting In Venice Review

15 Sep 2023

A Haunting In Venice

Both the selling-point and the limitation of the Poirot films is that you know exactly what you’re getting. The time-period and the tone are so set in stone that it requires a fresh A-list cast of suspects and new scenic location to differentiate each from the last (see also: Bond, Fast & Furious ). So credit where it’s due to Kenneth Branagh , who has given this a shockingly different feel even while hitting all the necessary beats.

The first slight change wrought by Branagh and writer Michael Green is the time-period: contrary to the traditional Agatha Christie interwar setting, this takes place in 1947. Poirot (Branagh) has retired from detecting, much to the chagrin of many would-be clients who camp outside his door nightly and are repelled by his bodyguard Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio). But the arrival of his pal Ariadne Oliver ( Tina Fey ), a crime writer, tempts him back. She wants him to debunk the work of psychic Mrs Reynolds ( Michelle Yeoh ), who has lined up a Halloween séance in the crumbling palazzo of grieving opera diva Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly).

This new tactic of rewriting obscure Christie novels with wild abandon shows real promise.

There’s a creepier energy here, the plot packed not only with murders but possibly paranormal events, out of keeping with standard whodunnit vibes, Poirot struggling to separate ghost from reality. To emphasise the eeriness, Branagh gives free rein to his long-standing weakness for a Dutch angle, tilting the camera every which way, looking for the creepiest corners of the storm-wracked palazzo, while cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos keeps the lighting just the right side of dingy.

Surrounding Branagh’s reliable Poirot, it’s a mixed bag. Fey brings screwball energy to Oliver, while Reilly seems both delicate and desperate. But Yeoh doesn’t get to do much more than pose, make vaguely sinister statements and be insulted by both Poirot and Oliver. The Belfast reteaming of Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill gives the latter more to do, oddly, though Dornan is suitably twitchy as a veteran with PTSD.

In the end, it still comes down to a gathering of the survivors for a grand reveal and an impossibly convoluted explanation. Some things are essential — and we wouldn’t want this old dog to reveal too many new tricks. Strain too hard for change and you end up with backstories for facial hair and similar madness. Still, this new tactic of rewriting obscure Christie novels with wild abandon shows real promise.

Movies | 19 07 2023

Movies | 11 06 2023

Movies | 26 04 2023

Culture | Film

A Haunting in Venice review: Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot at Halloween fails to haunt

To say this is Kenneth Branagh ’s “best Hercule Poirot movie yet” is undoubtedly true, but means sod all. Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile were ridiculous. The new venture is consistently gorgeous to look at, toys in a smart way with our desire for rational explanations and allows Tina Fey to strut her stuff (which is significant because the SNL genius behind Mean Girls and 30 Rock has often floundered on the big screen). Just don’t compare it to 70s chillers like Don’t Look Now or Death in Venice, because it’s not remotely haunting.

Branagh and his long-time collaborator, Michael Green, seem emboldened by the fact that the source material (Agatha Christie’s savage, shocking 1969 novel, Hallowe’en Party) is relatively obscure and non-beloved. The pair have jettisoned the time frame and most of the plot.

There’s a recognisable Hercule Poirot (the moustache is back, more resplendant than ever), working alongside Adriadne Oliver (Fey), a character widely viewed as Christie’s fictional alter ego. And many of the book’s themes and motifs remain (kids betrayed by adults; a prized garden; an apple bobbing session from hell). But we’re not in Woodleigh Common anymore and – spoiler alert! – much bitchy fun is had at Christie’s expense.

Venice, 1946. Oliver drags a retired Hercule to a “cursed” palazzo, where opera singer, Rowena (Kelly Reilly) is holding a Halloween party for orphans, followed by a séance with medium, Mrs Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh). Rowena is desperate to connect with her teenage daughter, Alicia (Rowan Robinson), who died a year ago in mysterious circumstances.

Also at the séance are Alicia’s ex-fiancé Maxime (Kyle Allen), the family doctor Leslie Ferrier and his son, Leopold (Belfast co-stars Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill), the housekeeper, Olga (Camille Cottin), and Reynolds’ Romany assistant, Desdemona (Emma Laird). Soon there’s blood on the object d’art and Poirot’s behaving like a loon.

Let’s acknowlege the movie’s problems. Oscar-winner Yeoh’s slumming it, Dornan doesn’t have the gravitas for a speech that touches on the horrors of Belsen and issue must be taken with Reilly’s appearance. The actress has a distractingly modern face (if only Branagh had cast Cate Blanchett or Carey Mulligan) and things are only made worse by the make-up team. Even at her most distraught, Rowena looks ready to give a YouTube tutorial on how to do a smokey eye.

The screenplay, too, isn’t nearly as hilarious or twisted as Christie’s prose. Christie’s young characters are unreliable, icy-hearted, knowing and often profoundly dumb. By contrast, Hill’s precocious Leopold is altogether too sweet, while Robinson’s on-the-verge-of-womanhood Alicia (whose comely portrait hangs on the wall and whose photogenic corpse we repeatedly see in flashbacks), is as bland as a blank envelope.

But it’s hard to complain when so much of the dialogue is sharp (there’s a nice line about what it means to be “the hired help”, while a reference to Meet Me in St. Louis’s happy ending is both arch and unexpectedly touching).

Fey’s Oliver quips that talking to Desdemona has “all the charm of chewing tinfoil.” Haha! Watching A Haunting in Venice is more like chewing on expensive chocolates. An indulgent if disposable treat, it’s just right for Halloween.

107mins, cert 12A

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A Haunting in Venice Review: A Superb Murder Mystery That's Legit Scary

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Kenneth Branagh's third outing as Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is a captivating murder mystery with bona fide horror scares. A Haunting in Venice , adapted from the 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party , will send shivers down your spine as a devilish plot twists and turns along a supposedly supernatural path. Poirot, the epitome of reason and logical deduction, faces a spellbinding test of his investigative abilities when unexplainable events lead to a baffling series of murders. The beautifully shot Italian settings coupled with superb performances from a venerated, all-star ensemble delivers frightening fun and cinematic splendor.

A Haunting in Venice opens after World War II, with Poirot living comfortably in retirement. He ignores the gawking crowds of onlookers loitering outside his luxurious villa. Poirot's morning routine cannot be interrupted by the bothersome; those desperate for his services or an autograph are rudely tossed aside. Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a former Italian poliziotto, serves as an effective bodyguard. He's tough as nails and makes sure Poirot enjoys his breakfast pastries in peace.

Poirot's lazy afternoon is interrupted with a surprise visit from famed author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey). The mystery writer who helped make Poirot famous with her novels has a perplexing problem that will surely lure him back to work. Oliver has become entranced by the abilities of a sensational psychic and spiritual medium. Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) has been invited to Venice for a séance. Opera star Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), inconsolable since the suicidal drowning of her beloved daughter Alicia (Rowan Robinson), lives in an eerie palazzo rumored to be haunted with the ghosts of dead children. Their voices are said to linger through the house at night. Drake's convinced they drove Alicia to kill herself. She believes Reynolds will be able to communicate with Alicia's tortured soul.

Kelly Reilly as the Bereaved Mother

Poirot scoffs at such a ludicrous notion. Reynolds is obviously a con artist preying on a bereaved mother. Oliver wants him to attend the séance to witness her in action. Previous attempts to expose Reynolds as a fraud have failed. She seems to actually possess mystical powers. Poirot's superior intellect is needed to either confirm Reynolds as a legitimate seer or an ingenious deceiver. He skeptically accepts the challenge but soon discovers that he's not immune to the palazzo's insidious terrors.

Related: Fall 2023 Movie Preview: 55 New Releases to Watch Out For

Branagh surrounds himself with greatness in front and behind the camera. The film looks amazing. Production designer John Paul Kelly ( The Theory of Everything, Stan & Ollie ) takes you from idyllic Venice facades to sinister interiors. The palazzo is a maze of impending doom. Every nook and cranny could hide a killer or lurking ghouls. Poirot realizes that the strange environment puts him at an extreme disadvantage. Hidden corridors, trap doors, and a dungeon-like basement must be searched for clues. This also gives the nefarious attacker(s) ample opportunities to strike the unsuspecting.

A Haunting in Venice makes great use of shadows, light, and darkness to create a foreboding atmosphere. Haris Zambarloukos ( Belfast, Murder on the Orient Express ), Branagh's longtime cinematographer on their ninth collaboration, is in top form here. What starts as bright and picturesque devolves to the murky unknown. Multiple scenes are shot with candles and have strobe effects that simulate lightning. There's also intriguing camera angles that show the characters from different points of view. For example, Poirot's descent below the palazzo starts on his face then cuts to overhead and behind shots to accurately frame a dangerous situation. Zambarloukos gives the impression that someone or something could be right behind him.

Michelle Yeoh Steals the Show

The brilliant supporting cast will you have guessing until the climax's bombshell reveals. Yeoh, coming off her Best Actress Oscar win, steals the show as Reynolds. She knows that Poirot is only there to discredit her, but exhibits no fear or concern from his snide remarks and imposing presence. You get the feeling that he's met his match. Yeoh's bizarre facial contortions and weird vocals during the séance are truly creepy as hell. Her legion of fans are going to love this performance. She embraces challenging roles and isn't afraid to do something radically different from what's expected.

Related: Best Michelle Yeoh Movies, Ranked

A Haunting in Venice is not for the casual viewer. The dense and complex narrative requires rapt attention. Every character has a motive that Branagh gives time to develop. This means a lot of heavy dialogue and interaction. All niceties cease once the bodies start piling up. Poirot's incisive interrogation tactics uncovers secrets and lies that were buried deep. This allows each cast member a chance to vary the interpretation of their character. Friendly demeanors vanish once Poirot gets under your skin.

A Haunting in Venice succeeds on all fronts. There are several jump-out-of-your seat moments that caught me completely off guard. The plot is not predictable. Branagh, his excellent players, and a skilled production team have taken one of the more obscure Agatha Christie offerings to lofty heights. It's also his best turn as Poirot.

A Haunting in Venice is a production of Kinberg Genre, The Mark Gordon Company, TSG Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, and Agatha Christie Limited. It will have a September 15th theatrical release from 20th Century Studios .

A Haunting in Venice

Movie and TV Reviews

'A Haunting in Venice' review: A sleepy Agatha Christie movie that won't keep you up at night

Another Agatha Christie movie, another old-school whodunit that doesn’t measure up to Kenneth Branagh’s amazing mustache .

“A Haunting in Venice” (★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; streaming now on Hulu ), Branagh’s third go-round as ace Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot (and third time manning the director’s chair), is only marginally better than the previous two stale outings, 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and last year’s “ Death on the Nile .” For his newest starry murder mystery , based on Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party,” Branagh challenges Poirot’s deductive mind and supernatural belief system and surrounds him with spookiness that can only spiff up a creaky plot and thin characters so much.

Set in 1947 – 10 years after “Nile” if anyone’s counting – this tale finds Poirot retired and living in Venice, Italy. After a career of seeing the worst of humanity while solving murders and witnessing the horrors of war, the ex-detective is content gardening, hiding from potential clients and waiting for his pastry delivery (like a post-war Postmates).

Who's the murderer? The biggest changes between the book and movie 'A Haunting in Venice'

“Cakes for cases,” Poirot’s friend Ariadne Oliver ( Tina Fey ) teases him when she comes to visit. The world’s top mystery writer is in Venice to attend a Halloween seance held at a supposedly haunted palazzo, which was once an orphanage but is now said to house the spirits of tortured children.

The palazzo's owner is opera star Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), a soprano who hasn’t sung a note since her ill daughter Alicia suffered a broken engagement and bizarrely took a header into a nearby canal, and she’s hired renowned psychic Joyce Reynolds ( Michelle Yeoh ) to hold a gathering to communicate with the dearly departed.

Knowing Poirot will think all this is hooey, Ariadne convinces him to come along and debunk the “Unholy” Mrs. Reynolds as a charlatan. But a long and twisty night kicks off in murderous fashion: One of the guests winds up dead, the survivors are trapped by a nasty storm, and Poirot gets back to what he does best, though our hero is thrown off his game when he starts to see and hear strange things.

An intriguing lot rounds out the suspect list, including “Belfast” co-stars Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill as a doctor suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and his clever son, Kyle Allen (“West Side Story”) as Alicia’s ex-fiancé and Camille Cottin (“Stillwater”) as Rowena’s loyal housekeeper. Fey’s Ariadne is the only supporting player that really pops, as a wry foil to the reserved Poirot. The detective himself gets another decent fleshing-out from what Christie had on the page courtesy of Michael Green’s screenplay, which takes more freedom with the source material than "Orient Express" and "Nile" did with their better-known tomes.

Like Branagh’s previous mysteries, “Venice” is awfully nice to look at and Oscar-winning "Joker" composer Hildur Gudnadøttir's darkly classical score sets a pleasingly creepy vibe alongside masked Italian gondoliers and costumed kids. Yet aside from Yeoh’s character and the occasional odd figure in a mirror, it’s not nearly as scary as it should or could be – the family-friendly “Haunted Mansion” is more unsettling, honestly – and the narrative is a grind to get through before Poirot finally reveals all.

From 'Nun 2' to 'Exorcist: Believer': Peep these 20 new scary movies for Halloween

The main problem with these throwback Christie adaptations is that, while sufficiently stylish and serviceable, they just don’t have the infectious, go-for-broke energy of a “Knives Out” movie or even a more relatable version of a classic literary sleuthing type like the “Sherlock” TV series. Multiple bodies drop dead, Poirot’s facial hair is still on point, but “Haunting” can’t exorcise ghosts of the past enough for a thrilling case.

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A haunting in venice.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 8 Reviews
Kids Say 16 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Stark, spooky Hercule Poirot murder mystery has violence.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Murders and jump scares. Character falls from height and is impaled on statue. C

Sporadic language includes "s--t," "bastard," "Christ" (as an exclamation), "dam

A boy offers to get his distraught father "a pill."

Any Positive Content?

Addresses ideas related to faith/belief in the form of arguments about whether g

Hercule Poirot, like Sherlock Holmes, is fascinating. He's extremely bright, he

Main character Hercule Poirot is a White man. Most other characters are White, a

Violence & Scariness

Murders and jump scares. Character falls from height and is impaled on statue. Character impales self with sword. Spooky stuff: ghosts, sudden noises, screaming, doors slamming, things falling, glass breaking, etc. Fighting, punching, slapping. One person holds another's head over broken window glass. Flashbacks to a person sinking into water and drowning, with others retrieving her lifeless body from the water. Poison used. Four large scratch marks on character's back. One person "clotheslines" another with his outstretched arm; the person hits the ground. Attempted drowning in a tub of apples. Character pushed off of bridge into water. People violently throw things across room. Character tripped by sliding crate. Threats. Cut finger. A bird suddenly attacks another bird. Bees fly out of a skeleton's mouth. A character talks about being a soldier, liberating the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and contending with typhus and death; he admits to "shooting himself through the chest." Dialogue about children locked in a basement and left to die.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sporadic language includes "s--t," "bastard," "Christ" (as an exclamation), "damn," "hell."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Addresses ideas related to faith/belief in the form of arguments about whether ghosts are real, whether there's an afterlife, whether there's a human soul. But in the end, movie suggests that nobody knows for sure and that anything's possible. (There's a sense of hope.) Scenes involving a scary shadow-play story lead to a character saying that "Scary stories make life less scary."

Positive Role Models

Hercule Poirot, like Sherlock Holmes, is fascinating. He's extremely bright, he grasps everything. But he seems sad, suffering from untold losses. He spends most of his time alone, seems locked into a very rigid way of thinking. His intelligence and skill are inspiring, but he's probably not someone to emulate in the long run. Other characters have flaws and questionable motivations. Women are smart, sharp, business savvy. Some characters are disbelievers in ghosts/the afterlife, some prey on the beliefs of the believers. One character says, "there is no such thing as psychic phenomena ... there is only psychic pain."

Diverse Representations

Main character Hercule Poirot is a White man. Most other characters are White, although performers come from all over Europe and Asia: Ireland (Branagh, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill), England (Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly), France (Camille Cottin), Italy (Riccardo Scamarcio), Malaysia (Michelle Yeoh), and the United States (Tina Fey). The actor who plays Nicholas Holland, Ali Khan, appears to be of Indian descent. Other characters of color appear in small/background parts. Women are depicted as smart, independent, and confident.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents need to know that A Haunting in Venice is writer-director and star Kenneth Branagh 's third murder mystery centering on novelist Agatha Christie's brilliant detective Hercule Poirot. It has a different tone from predecessors Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile : It's more contemplative, stark, and spooky. Violence includes murders, jump scares, people being impaled (one by a statue, one by a sword), ghosts, sudden noises, screaming, glass breaking, attempted drowning, fighting, punching, slapping, threatening with broken glass, poison, injury, and more. A woman is seen slipping under water and drowning, and there's discussion over whether she was murdered or died by suicide. Another character discusses an attempt at suicide. Infrequent language includes "s--t," "bastard," "Christ" (as an exclamation), "damn," and "hell." A boy offers to get his distraught father "a pill." The movie is quietly, eerily effective, raising questions about ideas related to faith and belief in the form of arguments about whether ghosts are real, whether there's an afterlife, and whether there's a human soul. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (8)
Kids say (16)

Based on 8 parent reviews

Boring and Dark

A little creepy but still very christie, what's the story.

In A HAUNTING IN VENICE, Hercule Poirot ( Kenneth Branagh ) is retired and living in Venice. He's hired a former police officer, Vitale Portfoglio ( Riccardo Scamarcio ), as a bodyguard to ward off desperate people looking for sleuthing services. Then Poirot is visited by bestselling mystery author Ariadne Oliver ( Tina Fey ), who has a proposition. She's working on a book about a famous medium, Joyce Reynolds ( Michelle Yeoh ). She can't figure out how Reynolds does her supernatural seances and wants Poirot to accompany her to see if he can find anything. They attend a Halloween party for orphans at the palazzo of Rowena Drake ( Kelly Reilly ), who, after the party, wishes to contact the spirit of her daughter, Alicia. Alicia had fallen from the balcony and drowned; it may or may not have been murder. Lo and behold, more murders start happening, and Poirot goes to work seeking the facts and finding a suspect. But something is wrong: Poirot himself has begun hearing voices and seeing ghosts.

Is It Any Good?

Stark and spooky, Branagh's third Poirot movie successfully adopts a whole new atmosphere. It's less exotic and edgier, more haunted; it's a tense, thoughtful, and satisfying mystery. Murder on the Orient Express had a fluid use of space aboard a cramped, moving train, while Death on the Nile used bright, open spaces. A Haunting in Venice , which is mainly set indoors, during a storm, and in the late hours of Halloween night -- when the barrier between the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest -- plays with more shadowy, angular, and even hallucinogenic filmmaking.

Author Agatha Christie published the source novel, Hallowe'en Party , in 1969, more than 30 years after the Orient Express and Nile novels, perhaps suggesting a hard-earned fatalism, which Branagh attaches to this movie's fabric. He seems freshly inspired, and his direction flourishes through Christie's material. As ever, he's equally adept with his actors, himself giving an appealingly wounded performance while slowly stripping away the other characters' veneers of protection, revealing their painful pasts. The mystery itself is clever and effective, though it comes almost with a sense of resignation; there's no joy in solving this murder. Even so, A Haunting in Venice leaves off with a sense of promise.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about A Haunting in Venice 's violence . How much is actually shown? What's the impact of the violence that's not shown? Is that thrilling, or shocking?

What's the appeal of scary movies ? Why is it sometimes fun to be scared?

Which characters are "good," and which are "bad" -- or is it hard to tell? Why do films often want viewers to see people as one way or another, rather than showing humans' capacity to be both?

Like Poirot, do you believe that there are simple, black-and-white solutions for every problem? Why, or why not?

Why do you think author Agatha Christie and Poirot have such enduring appeal?

Movie Details

In theaters : September 15, 2023
On DVD or streaming : November 28, 2023
Cast : Kenneth Branagh , Tina Fey , Michelle Yeoh , Jamie Dornan
Director : Kenneth Branagh
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Asian actors, Middle Eastern/North African writers
Studio : 20th Century Studios
Genre : Thriller
Run time : 103 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements
Last updated : August 23, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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In Theaters and Digital

A haunting in venice (2023) - movie review.

Just in time for the All Hallows Eve season comes another in the recent series of Agatha Christie novel adaptations from director Kenneth Branagh . While his 2017 Murder on the Orient Express and last year’s Death on the Nile received lukewarm critical receptions and found limited success, Branagh hopes to turn that ship around with his latest adaptation.

A Haunting in Venice brings a refreshing twist to Christie 's quick-witted and charmingly self-deprecating Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, taking him into the realm of the supernatural. Screenwriter Michael Green seamlessly weaves together elements from Christie 's Hallowe'en Party with her supernatural short stories, resulting in an intriguing adaptation that transports the audience to an enchanting Venetian Palazzo.

The decision to change the setting from an English cottage to a Venetian Palazzo proves to be a good one as the grandeur and mystique of Venice provide a stunning backdrop for this ghostly tale. Haris Zambarloukos ’s cinematography captures the city's unique ambiance, making it an essential character in the story. The use of canals, masks, and candlelit corridors adds an eerie and ethereal quality that elevates the film's atmosphere.

At its core, A Haunting in Venice is a classic ghost story, unfolding over a single spine-tingling night in 1947 as we meet Detective Poirot ( Branagh ) now retired from police work, disillusioned by humanity, and having shut himself off from the rest of world.

The tension builds steadily as Zambarloukos ’s camera explores the dark corners and weather-worn stairwells of the spooky palazzo, and director Kenneth Branagh expertly utilizes the Venitian Gothic architecture to enhance the eerie ambiance. We are drawn into the mystery, and as the supernatural events unfold, we can't help but find ourselves invested in the whodunnit story.

What truly sets this adaptation apart in the trilogy is the exploration of Hercule Poirot's character. Unlike the two previous films which primarily dealt with broad themes of revenge and greed, A Haunting in Venice delves into the supernatural, offering a fresh perspective on the famous detective. Branagh 's portrayal of Poirot is both vulnerable and resolute as he confronts forces beyond the scope of his usual deductive skills. This depth adds a layer of complexity to the character that Christie 's original story – as well as the two previous installments – did not provide.

The supporting cast also shines in their roles, with each character contributing to the overall mystery. Reilly delivers a captivating performance as the enigmatic Venetian hostess, while a talented ensemble cast of suspects featuring Jamie Dornan, Dylan Crobett-Bader, Jude Hill , and others, keeps you guessing until the very end.

The film maintains a slightly slower pace than the other Poirot adaptations which might spell a bit of doom for some viewers, but this deliberate pacing allows for more robust character building and atmospheric immersion. In addition, the haunting score complements the visuals beautifully, adding to the overall sense of unease.

With A Haunting in Venice, Branagh and Green succeed in breathing new life into Agatha Christie 's iconic detective. But is it enough to power this installment above the previous two and keep the series a strong recommend? Probably not.

However, their addition of the supernatural element provides an intriguing departure from this Poirot mystery series. The Venetian setting, the palpable sense of dread, and the reimagining of the Poirot character make the film a memorable addition to the Christie cinematic universe.

MPAA Rating: PG-13. Runtime: 103 mins Director : Kenneth Branagh Writer: Michael Green Cast: Kenneth Branagh; Michelle Yeoh; Jamie Dornan Genre : Mystery | Crime Tagline: Memorable Movie Quote: "for once in your life, admit that you're up against something bigger than you" Theatrical Distributor: 20th Century Fox Official Site: https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/a-haunting-in-venice Release Date: September 15, 2023 DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: Synopsis : In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

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Is a haunting in venice the best hercule poirot movie yet critics seem to think so.

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Most critics agree that A Haunting in Venice is Kenneth Branagh's best Hercule Poirot movie yet, praising the macabre atmosphere and lean into horror.
The film's cast, which includes Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, and Jamie Dornan, is also frequently mentioned as a major strength.
The production design and use of on-location shooting has contributed to the film's effective horror atmosphere.

Critics' reactions for A Haunting in Venice have arrived, and most seem to agree that the spooky Agatha Christie adaptation delivers. Once again directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, the upcoming murder mystery sees Hercule Poirot return to solve multiple murders during a sinister seance-gone-wrong.

Now, ahead of A Haunting in Venice 's release date next week, critics are sharing their early thoughts about the movie online. While reactions differ, most seem to agree that it's scary, surprisingly deep, and perhaps Branagh's best Poirot movie yet. Check out select reactions below:

Joe Russo asserts that A Haunting in Venice is " the best of Kenneth Branagh and [Michael Green's] Poirot movies ," praising the effective horror atmosphere and on-location shooting.

Rebecca Lewis writes that the film " takes time to find its groove but once settled is captivating ". After praising the production design and score, Lewis says she " wasn't expecting such a deep character examination of Poirot in a horror but Brangh surprises again ."

Rama's Screen , on the other hand, wasn't a fan of the new film, arguing that it's actually " the weakest of the Hercule Poirot saga ," and saying that " the reveals were also downright ludicrous ."

Brian Eggert praises the film's " spooky atmosphere " and cast, and also says it's Branagh's best Poirot mystery.

Tessa Smith says the film " perfectly combines mystery and horror elements in a way that neither one overshadows the other ," in addition to praising the jump scares.

EJ Moreno is another critic who agrees that A Haunting in Venice is the best of Branagh's trilogy, calling it " pretty fun ".

Giovanni Lago calls the film "a vast improvement " over Death on the Nile , praising Branagh's tonal shifts and the new cast.

Matt Neglia says the new film his favorite of Branagh's trilogy, praising the horror and calling it " the most captivating examination of [Poirot] yet ."

Matt Donato calls the adaptation " a better horror flick than murder mystery ," celebrating the movie as "proper Halloween entertainment ."

Jeff Conway calls the film " regal " and " sophisticated ," singling out Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh as particular standouts in the impressive cast.

What A Haunting In Venice's First Reactions Mean For The Movie

The cast of A Haunting in Venice in the palazzo

The first reactions to any movie aren't always a good indicator for how the general public will receive a film, but it does seem like Branagh's latest movie leans into horror in an exciting way. A Haunting in Venice 's trailers have all played up the spooky elements of the story, making clear that the new movie will be very different from both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile , which were more traditional murder mysteries.

A through line in the reactions is the movie's atmosphere and production design. It seems like the use of real sets and locations in Venice have made a big difference when it comes to setting the mood of the film. By contrast, both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile had some fairly garish CGI and green screen moments that stood out like a sore thumb.

A Haunting in Venice 's cast has also been mentioned in most of the reactions and seems to be one of the film's biggest strengths. In addition to Branagh, Yeoh, and Fey, the film features performances from Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly, Amir El-Masry, Dylan Corbett Bader, and more. It remains to be seen how audiences will receive A Haunting in Venice , but thankfully there isn't too much longer to wait before the film hits theaters.

Source: Various (see above)

Key Release Dates

A Haunting in Venice

A Haunting In Venice
Hercule Poirot

A Haunting In Venice Review: Enough Disappointment To Fill The Nile

Fun supporting performances
Michelle Yeoh steals the show
Plays its silly source material too straight
The supporting characters are all underwritten

There is no blockbuster movie franchise right now that's quite as tonally inconsistent as Kenneth Branagh's adaptations of Agatha Christie's classic Poirot mysteries. His dryly comedic take on the Belgian detective debuted in 2017 via a straightforward retelling of "Murder on the Orient Express" — a modest hit that didn't make the source material fresh so much as attempt to distract from its familiarity via a starry cast of A-listers. For the long-delayed sequel " Death on the Nile ," the franchise pivoted from being a straightforward whodunnit into something far more bizarre.

Nearly two years later, and I can't work out if it was a work of knowing-camp that was in on the joke of its sheer ridiculousness, or completely oblivious as to how every performer felt like an alien trying to pass off as human, and each of its oddball sex scenes felt like the result of an AI prompt asking for a "PG-13 Showgirls." It wasn't a good movie, but it was as delightfully deranged as its predecessor was unremarkably ordinary.

At the press screening of "A Haunting in Venice" I attended, I got the sense that many of my fellow critics were priming themselves for a similar so-bad-its-good experience in the hands of director-star Branagh, with the first 15 minutes or so routinely soundtracked by what can only be described as forced laughing. Every mundane incident was greeted with knowing guffaws from viewers who were clearly desperate to seek out a moment that could be as instantly memeable as Gal Gadot's " Enough Champagne to fill the Nile " speech; the sight of Poirot measuring two eggs at a market stall (a mildly amusing depiction of his eccentricities) was treated like the wackiest comedy set piece this side of "Dumb and Dumber." There is nothing in "A Haunting in Venice" anywhere near as memorable as Gadot's bizarre line readings. This is a perfectly functional murder mystery, which aspires to Edgar Allan Poe more than it does Christie — and when placed in comparison with its predecessor, is clearly the better of the two films.

Playing it straight

This is the extent of the faint praise with which I'll damn Kenneth Branagh's movie, which I feel has been given a pass from many critics simply because it's being placed in direct contrast with "Death on the Nile"; this isn't a ridiculous romp in the same light and treats its central mystery with far more seriousness. It functions as a conventional whodunnit and never descends into pantomime, which may satisfy fans of the genre (it's already been hailed as the best of the trilogy) but felt pretty deflating considering just how joyously bonkers the previous film was. This just feels boring placed next to it. By the halfway point, the most unexpected thing of all happened: I found myself longing for Gadot to reappear to liven things up a bit.

This isn't to say that "A Haunting in Venice" is played straight. Instead, its over-the-top aspects are all in its overt nods to the gothic, nodding to the horror literature of the past (direct references to Poe's work), and the horror movies of the present (Branagh has discovered jump scares, and tries to mine as many as he can from this material). We open in 1947 when Poirot has become a semi-recluse, refusing to take on any new cases, until he's greeted by old friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), an author of detective novels inspired by Poirot's real-life cases who's in desperate need of a hit after three consecutive flops. Considering Branagh's box office track record of late, I'm sure this is a struggle he empathizes with.

Dragged to a Halloween party, Poirot reluctantly agrees to attend a séance, which Ariadne hopes will get his juices flowing again so she can track one of his cases first-hand. Unfortunately, what the medium (played by a game Michelle Yeoh) discovers is underwhelming, with Poirot initially sensing he's at the center of a lazy practical joke — that is, until bodies start to pile up outside, and he hallucinates the recently departed girl they were all trying to contact. Nobody else can see this, so does it mean the house is haunted, or is it the physical manifestation of his PTSD built up over years of dealing with deadly cases? Before we know it, he proudly announces that after a few years away, "Hercule Poirot is on the case!"

Everyone's a suspect — and nobody is fleshed out enough for me to care

As with Kenneth Branagh's prior Poirot films, it's hard to get fully invested in the mystery when the suspects are barely fleshed out. Three films in, and our wacky protagonist — increasingly closer to "The Pink Panther" detective Inspector Clouseau than his traditional characterization — largely remains more of an interconnected set of quirky mannerisms than a fully imagined character, the trauma of his past that should offer us greater insight relegated to flashbacks. Tina Fey is afforded the most backstory as Ariadne, but this is largely because she was a mainstay of the novels, and a not-so-subtle surrogate for Agatha Christie herself, even if the actress has made the choice to play her like a journalist from a fast-talking 1940s screwball comedy. Of the new additions, Yeoh reminds us that prior to her Oscar win, she was synonymous with elevating franchise dreck by treating silly material with utter solemnity; there's no winking to the audience here as she opens a monologue with "I like the term 'medium,' because I am neither big nor small" — a quote that should land screenwriter Michael Green in jail.

None of the characters feel drawn from the same film; more so than the two prior efforts, broader comedy archetypes sit awkwardly when placed next to quiet figures still struggling to process their traumatic pasts. Jamie Dornan, as Dr. Leslie Ferrier , is defined by his lingering PTSD following WWII — attempts to fashion this into a mismatched buddy comedy with his Edgar Allan Poe-obsessed son Leopold (Jude Hill — yes, the kid from "Belfast," playing Dornan's son for a second time!) taking the role of the parental figure. This is the closest the movie gets to genuine sweetness, but the screenplay keeps trying to find jokes within this dynamic in a way that undermines it; a recurring issue for this film, which I felt was holding itself back from fully committing to the comedic moments so it could ensure a greater tonal command than its predecessor. It once again left me wishing it would just become an out-and-out pantomime, instead of taking itself more seriously than this franchise needs.

If you're looking for a straightforward murder mystery, "A Haunting in Venice" sees Branagh play Christie's source material far straighter than before, even if this is his least faithful adaptation to date. Purists may have a greater appreciation for it because of this — I just wish Branagh would let his hair down a bit more and once again deliver something every bit as eccentric as his mustachioed protagonist.

"A Haunting in Venice" premieres in theaters on Friday, September 15.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn't exist.

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Oddity Review: A Haunting Tale of Grief and the Supernatural

Oddity is a supernatural thriller written and directed by Damian McCarthy , set against the atmospheric backdrop of rural Ireland. This film weaves a tale of grief, betrayal, and vengeance, centered on Darcy Odello, a blind medium with psychometric abilities. McCarthy’s narrative delves into the dark recesses of the human psyche, exploring how unresolved trauma and buried secrets can manifest into tangible horrors.

Atmosphere as a Character

From the opening scenes, Oddity establishes a chilling mood, with its shadowy, creaking country house and the eerie silence of the countryside. The film’s setting plays a pivotal role, almost becoming a character in itself. The house, filled with dark corners and whispering walls, serves as a perfect stage for the unfolding of the supernatural elements that drive the story forward. McCarthy’s direction and the cinematography work hand in hand to create a claustrophobic atmosphere, where every creak and groan of the house could signify the approach of something malevolent.

Compelling Performances, Especially in Dual Roles

Carolyn Bracken delivers a compelling dual performance as both Dani and Darcy, the twin sisters around whom the plot revolves. Her portrayal of Darcy, the blind medium, is particularly notable. Bracken embodies the character’s grief and determination, making her struggle feel personal and raw. Darcy’s blindness adds an extra layer of tension to the film; her reliance on her other senses and psychic abilities heightens the suspense, as the audience is left to imagine what might be lurking just out of her reach.

Gwilym Lee , as Ted Timmis, also offers a nuanced performance. Ted’s character is complex, balancing between the facade of a caring husband and the darker aspects that slowly unravel as the plot thickens. The dynamic between Ted and Darcy is the heart of the film, with their interactions teetering between uneasy cordiality and underlying hostility. Lee’s portrayal of Ted’s inner turmoil and eventual descent into paranoia is one of the film’s highlights.

The Mannequin: A Symbol of Unresolved Mysteries

The introduction of the wooden mannequin from Darcy’s cabinet of curiosities is where Oddity veers into more traditional horror territory. The mannequin, with its lifeless gaze and unsettling presence, becomes a symbol of the unresolved mysteries and the supernatural forces at play. McCarthy uses the mannequin effectively to escalate the tension, with its inexplicable movements and the strange objects hidden within it adding to the film’s creeping dread.

McCarthy’s screenplay is methodical, with a slow-burn approach that gradually builds suspense. The narrative is rich in detail, weaving together the psychological and supernatural elements seamlessly. However, this slow pacing might not appeal to all viewers. The film takes its time to reveal its secrets, and while this allows for a deeper connection with the characters, it also means that some moments feel drawn out. For those who prefer a faster-paced thriller, this might be a point of contention.

Effective Use of Sound and Silence

One of the film’s strengths lies in its sound design. The use of silence is particularly effective, with long stretches of quiet amplifying the tension. When sound is used, it’s done sparingly but to great effect. The creaking of floorboards, the rustling of leaves, and the eerie chime of the haunted bell all contribute to a soundscape that keeps the audience on edge.

Thematically, Oddity explores the idea of grief as a catalyst for horror. Darcy’s mourning for her sister and her determination to uncover the truth about Dani’s death drives the narrative. This emotional core gives the film depth, grounding the supernatural elements in a story about loss and the lengths one might go to for closure. The film also touches on themes of betrayal and guilt, particularly in the character of Ted, whose secrets slowly come to light as the plot unfolds.

A Few Missteps in the Narrative

However, Oddity is not without its flaws. While the film’s atmosphere and performances are strong, the plot occasionally stumbles under the weight of its own ambitions. Some of the story’s twists and turns, while intriguing, feel underdeveloped, leaving the audience with more questions than answers. Additionally, the film’s resolution might come across as unsatisfying for those expecting a more conclusive ending. McCarthy seems to prefer leaving certain elements ambiguous, which might frustrate viewers looking for clear-cut answers.

Another point of critique is the character of Yana, played by Caroline Menton . While she serves as a foil to Darcy, her role feels somewhat underutilized. Yana’s presence in the film seems more like a plot device than a fully realized character, and her interactions with Darcy, though tense, lack the depth found in other parts of the narrative. This leaves her character feeling somewhat extraneous to the central plot.

Visually, Oddity is a haunting experience. The cinematography, with its muted color palette and careful framing, enhances the film’s unsettling tone. The use of light and shadow is particularly noteworthy, creating a visual contrast that mirrors the film’s thematic exploration of hidden truths and buried secrets. The country house, with its labyrinthine corridors and hidden nooks, is shot in a way that makes it feel both expansive and claustrophobic, adding to the film’s sense of unease.

Oddity is a film that excels in atmosphere and character-driven storytelling. Damian Mc Carthy has crafted a supernatural thriller that, while not perfect, offers enough chills and psychological intrigue to keep viewers engaged. The film’s slow pacing and occasional narrative missteps might not make it a universal crowd-pleaser, but for those who appreciate a methodical build-up and a story steeped in mood and tension, Oddity is worth a watch. It’s a film that lingers in the mind, much like the ghostly presence it portrays, leaving viewers pondering the fine line between reality and the supernatural long after the credits roll.

Acting - 7.5/10 7.5/10
Cinematography/Visual Effects - 7.5/10 7.5/10
Plot/Screenplay - 7/10 7/10
Setting/Theme - 7/10 7/10
Watchability - 7/10 7/10
Rewatchability - 5/10 5/10

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32 Of The Worst Remakes In Hollywood History

We liked these better the first time.

We are not against the idea of remaking a movie and believe some are as good, if not even better, than their predecessors, particularly because they managed to stand on their own by bringing something new to the table. Unfortunately, those types of remakes are merely a dime a dozen, while the rest end up being shameless carbon copies or simply fall short of the original’s quality by lacking any imagination. With all due respect to any audiences who may enjoy these films for one reason or another, the following are our choices for movie remakes that failed to uphold the legacy of what came before.

Psycho (1998)

For as many great horror movie remakes as there actually are, Gus Van Sant’s version of Alfred Hitchcock ’s 1960 classic, Psycho , is not considered one of them. Reason being: the Vince Vaughn-led thriller copies one of the all-time best horror movies almost shot-for-shot and has since been deemed a prime example of why filmmakers should avoid that approach.

Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac in Guess Who

Guess Who (2005)

Guess Who stars Bernie Mac as a Black man who takes an immediate dislike to his daughter’s (Zoë Saldaña) boyfriend ( Ashton Kutcher ), particularly because he is white. This race-swapped update of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner throws out the commentary on diversity — which was deeply important for its time and still moving today — in favor of generic comedy that lazily rips off Meet the Parents .

Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham Carter in Planet of the Apes

Planet Of The Apes (2001)

It is really not much of a surprise that most of the least-liked Tim Burton movies are remakes, especially his Mark Wahlberg -led take on 1968’s sci-fi classic, Planet of the Apes . Critics and audiences noticed how the director’s signature style is completely missing from the clumsy narrative of the otherwise visually impressive reimagining, but cited as the biggest flaw is the nonsensical attempt to change the ending.

The Wicker Man (2006)

Neil LaBute’s update of the chilling 1973 cult favorite, The Wicker Man , has had its fair share of rewatches, but only to bask in Nicolas Cage’s hilariously unhinged performance as a cop searching for a missing girl on a mysterious island. No one watches it because they find it at all scary or narratively tight and, especially, not for LaBute’s reinvention of Summerisle’s Neo-pagan community as a vitriolic matriarchy.

Taxi (2004)

Not enough American audiences know about the original Taxi (not to be confused with the 1970s sitcom) — a 1998 French action-comedy from writer Luc Besson about a bumbling cop with a poor driving record enlisting a cabbie to help him catch a notorious gang. Most only know about director Tim Story’s version starring Queen Latifah as the driver and Jimmy Fallon as the cop which was deemed low on laughs and lackluster in action.

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist.

The Tourist (2010)

Starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie , The Tourist is a thriller about a man unwittingly chosen to pose as a woman’s lover, who is a wanted criminal, in Venice, Italy. The film is more famous today for Ricky Gervais’ incessant roasting of its convoluted plot line at the Golden Globes and less for being an English-language adaptation of the 2005 French film, Anthony Zimmer .

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Meet Joe Black (1998)

Director Martin Brest’s update of 1943’s Death Takes a Holiday is a prime example of a not-so-great movie with a great concept , being that the Grim Reaper ( Brad Pitt ) takes human form and falls for the daughter (Claire Forlani) of his latest victim (Anthony Hopkins). Unfortunately, Meet Joe Black mainly suffers from an unnecessary three-hour runtime that makes it a chore for many to watch.

Black Christmas (2019)

The first remake of Black Christmas from 2006 is not nearly held in the same regard as Bob Clark’s 1974 holiday horror movie classic , but has been retroactively viewed as a fun, underrated slasher by many. However, the egregiously ham-fisted social commentary and convoluted plot of Blumhouse’s attempt at an update has likely robbed itself of the same potential.

RoboCop (2014)

Director José Padilha’s reimagining of Paul Verhoeven’s futuristic classic, RoboCop , attempts to give Joel Kinnaman’s portrayal of Alex Murphy more of a personality post-upgrade. Ironically, the overall film lacks much of a soul, in addition to the biting satire that made the 1987 original stronger than your average action film.

Godzilla (1998)

Hollywood’s first attempt to Americanize pop culture’s most famous Kaiju, literally, does not have enough meat on its bones, with the titular creature being reduced from a beefy behemoth to a frail cross between a raptor and a T-Rex. What Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla really suffers from, however, is an over-reliance on childish humor and astonishingly stark lack of any real tension or urgency for a disaster movie. At least the soundtrack was good, though.

Jackie Earle Haley in A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

With brilliant performances by horror movie icons Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger and Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson, A Nightmare on Elm Street was an instant slasher classic that never bore a need for an update. Some might say that Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley at least tried to give a worthy performance as the sinister dreamweaver, but few believe the filmmakers tried to live up to the legacy of Wes Craven’s classic with this unimaginative nightmare that almost forced star Rooney Mara into early retirement.

The Women (2008)

Director George Cukor’s adaptation of Clare Booth’s play, The Women was hailed as a clever satire of gender dynamics with razor-sharp wit and wonderful performances by the likes of Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. Despite an all-star cast including Meg Ryan, Jada Pickett Smith, Annette Bening, and more, writer and director Diane English’s modernized take was criticized as being, well, the quite opposite of its predecessor’s quality.

The Fog (2005)

Despite crafting one of the greatest remakes of all time with The Thing , many of John Carpenter’s movies have been cursed with updates of lesser quality, with The Fog being one of the most widely reviled examples. Critics and audiences agree that there is not a shred of originality or genuine suspense in director Rupert Wainwright’s take on the story of a coastal town terrorized by the ghosts of shipwreck victims.

Swept Away (2002)

From writer and director Lina Wermüller — the first female Best Director Oscar nominee — 1974’s Swept Away is an Italian rom-com starring Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato as castaways who unexpectedly fall in love. Nobody expected — or wanted — to see Madonna lead a remake directed by her then-husband, Guy Ritchie, who later called the experience of releasing the critical and commercial failure “painful.”

Prom Night (2008)

The original Prom Night from 1980 — starring reigning Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis — may have its fair share of slasher movie cliches, but it was one of the first to pioneer those tropes. However, the remake from nearly three decades later — starring Brittany Snow as a high school senior stalked by a maniac from her past — has absolutely no excuse.

Rollerball (2002)

While not quite remembered as a classic today, the James Caan-led Rollerball was praised in 1975 for its unique attempt at satirizing corporate influence through a story about a deadly sport in a dystopian society. Director John McTiernan’s version — starring Chris Klein, LL Cool J, and Rebecca Romijin — was criticized for choppy editing and a non-sensical story, let alone the removal of the original’s social commentary.

Get Carter (2000)

Michael Caine stars in the acclaimed 1971 crime thriller Get Carter as a London mobster seeking vengeance for his brother’s death. People have questioned why the Oscar-winner agreed to appear in the widely panned Americanized update starring Sylvester Stallone in the title role and some have suspected it was the paycheck.

The Haunting (1999)

What makes the 1963 adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House one of the best haunted house movies is its more nuanced and cleverly ambiguous approach to the source material. Director Jan de Bont’s The Haunting , however, throws all psychological complexity out the window in favor of a generic ghost story with cheesy scares.

Malin Akerman and Ben Stiller in The Heartbreak Kid

The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

The late Charles Grodin gives one of his best performances in the hilarious, bittersweet 1972 rom-com classic, The Heartbreak Kid , as a man who meets the woman of his dreams while on his honeymoon with his wife, whose emerging flaws lead him to regret the decision. Peter and Bobby Farrelly teamed up with Ben Stiller for what was ultimately deemed a less funny and more grating imitation of director Elaine May’s original.

Flatliners (2017)

Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners from 1990 was a pretty good thriller exploring the complexities of death, but critics also agreed at the time that the film did leave room for improvement. Most critics would also agree that Niels Arden Oplev’s modernized version — in which original star Kiefer Sutherland also appears — did not fulfill its potential by not taking advantage of its philosophical themes and not applying any imagination to its “scarier” moments.

Down To Earth (2001)

Fun fact: the Academy Award-nominated Heaven Can Wait — starring co-writer and co-director Warren Beatty as a football player put in the body of a slain millionaire after he is taken too soon — was already a remake of 1941’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan . With Down to Earth , Chris Rock reimagined the story from the point of view of a struggling comedian, but to far less acclaim.

The Amityville Horror (2005)

One of the most famous horror movies based on a true story is the 1979 adaptation of Jay Anson’s book, The Amityville Horror , which chronicles the Lutz family’s alleged account of living in a house that was the site of a grisly murder. Director Andrew Douglas’ remake with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George tells the same story but with little to no story amendments and far less effective scares.

Steve Martin looking at his arm in shock in The Pink Panther.

The Pink Panther (2006)

There is a chance that Steve Martin could have been a great successor to the role of bumbling inspector Jacques Clouseau had the script for director Shawn Levy’s reboot of The Pink Panther lived up to his talents. Instead, the comedic caper resorts to the lowest hanging fruit for every gag and makes Martin’s Clouseau hopelessly incompetent beyond redemption.

One Missed Call (2008)

Director Takashi Miike’s thriller One Missed Call — in which people receive voicemails foretelling their own death — did not receive very good reviews in 2004. However, it has been retroactively regarded as a classic when compared to Eric Valette’s remake, which was even more harshly criticized for being a boring mess worth hanging up on.

Marlon Brando in The Island Of Dr. Moreau

The Island Of Dr. Moreau (1996)

The main reason why the 1977 adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau received mixed reviews was its understandable struggle to craft convincing makeup effects on its human-animal hybrid characters. That was clearly not the issue with the mid-1990s update, which suffered from countless infamous on-set issues — from Marlon Brando refusing to learn his lines to director Richard Stanley’s firing — that were chronicled in the 2014 documentary, Lost Soul .

Death Race (2008)

Producer Roger Corman’s cheesy dystopian B-movie, 1975’s Death Race 2000 , stars the likes of David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone as contestants in a cross-country car chase where murder is encouraged. Paul W.S. Anderson’s Jason Statham-led update reduces the title and reimagines it as a gritty prison drama, but was still regarded as more of an over-the-top mess.

Conan The Barbarian (2011)

Jason Momoa is a great choice to fill Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shoes in the title role of Conan the Barbarian . Unfortunately, Marcus Nispel’s interpretation of the story proves to be an uninspired farce in the eyes of its critics.

Halloween (2007)

Fans of the Halloween movies might agree that writer and director Rob Zombie’s reimagining of John Carpenter’s 1978 classic is not even the franchise’s weakest and even earns points for some inventively brutal kill scenes. Yet, its attempt to humanize Michael Myers — a killer originally envisioned as nothing more than a force of pure evil — is seen as a mistake by most.

Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

We will give director Scott Derrickson credit for attempting to darken the source material by reimagining The Day the Earth Stood Still as an indictment of humanity’s ignorance of environmental warnings. Unfortunately, the execution of the remake — starring Keanu Reeves as Klaatu — lacks all that made the original interesting.

Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)

Less a remake and more another adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel, director Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory does boast many wondrous visuals. Yet, it still pales in comparison to 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory , particularly for Johnny Depp’s uncomfortably creepy performance as the eccentric chocolatier.

All The King’s Men (2006)

Updating a black-and-white Best Picture Oscar winner from 1949 into a modern color feature with a star-studded cast — including Sean Penn and Kate Winslet — would seem like a slam-dunk success. However, writer and director Steve Zaillian’s adaptation of author Robert Penn Warren’s influential political drama, All the King’s Men , was criticized for Penn’s over-the-top performance, an incoherent story, and other flaws that led people to give it the dreaded “Oscar bait” brand.

The Ladykillers (2004)

Despite, arguably, surpassing 1969’s True Grit with their 2010 version, most agree that Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Ladykillers vastly pales in comparison to the original 1955 comedic crime film starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. Say what you want about Tom Hanks’ eccentric lead performance, but he may be the funniest element in this middling story of criminals who meet their match in their feisty landlady (Irma P. Hall).

Let these films be a lesson of what not to do when updating a previous work of art for modern cinema.

Jason Wiese writes feature stories for CinemaBlend. His occupation results from years dreaming of a filmmaking career, settling on a "professional film fan" career, studying journalism at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO (where he served as Culture Editor for its student-run print and online publications), and a brief stint of reviewing movies for fun. He would later continue that side-hustle of film criticism on TikTok (@wiesewisdom), where he posts videos on a semi-weekly basis. Look for his name in almost any article about Batman.

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Films Boutique Picks Up Venice Entries ‘January 2’ by Zsofia Szilagyi, ‘Wishing on a Star’ by Peter Kerekes (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

Leo Barraclough

International Features Editor

Films Boutique Picks Up Venice Entries ‘January 2’ by Zsofia Szilagyi, ‘Wishing on a Star’ by Peter Kerekes (EXCLUSIVE) 36 mins ago
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Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has picked up international rights to “January 2” by Zsófia Szilágyi and “ Wishing on a Star ” by Peter Kerekes ahead of their premieres at the Venice Film Festival .

“January 2” marks Szilágyi’s return to the festival circuit after her debut feature “One Day” premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2018, where the film won the Fipresci award.

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Kerekes returns to Venice after his last feature, “107 Mothers,” won the best screenplay award in the Horizons section in 2021. From then, the film went on to have a successful international career with stops in such leading festivals as San Sebastian, Chicago (best director award), Les Arcs (Crystal award for best film), the Viennale, Tallinn Black Nights, New Horizons (audience award), Cottbus (best film award), Goteborg, Cleveland, Seattle, Transilvania, Taipei, Pune and Edinburgh. The film was nominated at the European Film Awards for the European Discovery – Prix Fipresci award in 2022.

“January 2” is among the Biennale College selection, while “Wishing on a Star” is heading to Venice as part of the Horizons section.

For both filmmakers, the Venice premieres are their second collaborations with Films Boutique.

“January 2” follows Klára, who moves out of the place she shares with her husband. Her friend, Ági, helps her. They make a total of seven trips by car. Although they take the same route there and back every time, each trip is different. “January 2” is a realistic story about a separation from the wife’s perspective with all the challenges she faces following this tough decision.

Gabor Greiner, chief operating officer of Films Boutique, said: “We are very proud to continue our successful collaboration with Zsofi Szilagyi who in her new deeply entertaining venture, just like she did in ‘One Day,’ depicts with freshness and extreme clarity the end of a relationship. Zsofi is clearly one of the most talented Hungarian filmmakers of her generation.

“With his new documentary film, Peter Kerekes continues to display his unique storytelling and esthetic skills, that will allow the audiences to yet again develop an intimate relationship with each character of his film.”

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The Big Picture

The Beach House creates a dread-inducing atmosphere with Lovecraftian horror and a terrifying apathetic oceanic microbe.
Body horror in the film is uniquely slimy and gross, contrasting against the beautiful, glowing nature of the infectious microbe.
Despite her impressive survival skills, Emily in The Beach House ultimately falls victim to the hopeless and effective antagonist, the microbe.

Beach vacations sound like nothing but fun in the sun unless one has seen Jeffery A. Brown ’s directorial debut, The Beach House . What starts as an uncomfortable, accidental couple’s weekend in a nearly abandoned seaside town ends in a cosmic horror nightmare that would impress H.P. Lovecraft himself. Liana Liberato stars as Emily, a college senior giving her relationship with Randall ( Noah Le Gros ) one last chance. Their romantic getaway crashes the older couple, Mitch ( Jake Weber ) and Jane’s ( Maryann Nagel ), own stay at the same house. As the couples shakily occupy the space, an oceanic microorganism rapidly works through every living organism it comes in contact with.

The film takes the automatically tense tone of Emily and Randall’s rocky reconciliation and the awkward mashing of the two couples to set an ominous atmosphere that preps the viewer for the Lovecraftian horror to come. Liberato's Emily is a compelling final girl, using her relevant knowledge base to navigate the outbreak best. The microbe itself proves to be terrifying in a unique way. The slimy body horror of the infected is viscerally unnerving, but The Beach House is at its most dread-inducing when reminding the viewer that the microbe is not malicious. The ambivalence of the microbe, combined with its effects, make The Beach House a haunting debut.

The Beach House

The infectious microbe in ‘the beach house’ is pure lovecraftian horror.

Cosmic horror can be broadly divided into three categories; ancient, alien, and apathetic. The oceanic microbe of The Beach House is apathetic. It cares not for the suffering it causes, but it is also not purposefully wreaking havoc. Astutely compared to algae bloom, the microbe is simply acting as a microbe. Many great horror villains have exciting backstories or lore attached to them, providing an intriguing why . Leaning into Lovecraft’s more scientific themes, The Beach House drops breadcrumbs to reveal the microbe has evolved and spread out of the sea and onto land. There is no mad scientist behind the infection, just basic evolution.

Whereas a creature feature or slasher gives the characters something to push back against and kill by the end of the movie, The Beach House ’s microbe descends over the town on a massive scale while maintaining intangibility. Once the film reveals the beach town is not abandoned, but rather, all the residents have been infected and turned into zombies , helpless desperation settles over the remaining runtime. It doesn’t matter how many zombies Emily kills or locks in closets, the microbe is in the air she’s breathing . The person she speaks to over the radio tells her no one is coming. Emily is infected, and there is nothing that can be done for her. It’s a hopeless situation, like quite literally fighting the air.

The Gore in ‘The Beach House’ Is Extra Gross

Body horror and gore usually equals lots of blood and guts. In The Beach House , the gore is slimy and oozing . Zombies are coated in a thick white mucus, spitting up watery bile of a similar shade. Long, pale worms crawl out of mouths and are pulled out of open wounds. Infected sea creatures wash up on shore looking half exploded and thoroughly rotted. These aesthetics are heavily rooted in The Beach House ’s oceanic setting. These skin-crawling images are set against the pastel sandy beaches and an ocean so bright it melds with the skyline. The environment feels soft and delicate, making the visceral nastiness of the gore especially incongruous.

Jessica Harper trying to survive in Suspiria.

The 10 Best Cosmic Body Horror Movies, Ranked

"Susie, do you know anything about... witches?"

The body horror of The Beach House is undeniably unpleasant, but the microbe itself is beautiful. On the first night at the beach house, the microorganism rolls onto the land to settle in the trees through an ocean breeze. It is an electric, glowing blue. As Jane wanders outside to look at the strange scene, she appears as though in outer space, suspended among the stars. It’s the most visually engaging shot of the entire film. As Emily suffers from the effects of breathing in the polluted air, her figure is outlined in red and blue. A similar visual is used earlier in The Beach House while Emily is high on an edible. This reuse of the anaglyph silently suggests unreality . The glowing nature of the microbe and the out-of-body anaglyph imagery make the microbe the most Lovecraftian aspect of the film . Features of the microbe are recognizable, but its effect and impact are incomprehensible.

Liana Liberato Should Have Been the Final Girl in ‘The Beach House’

While The Beach House is extremely effective in creating a sense of hopelessness, it does come at a very big cost. Nothing is more frustrating in a horror movie than when the protagonist makes dumb decisions, especially if the audience is meant to root for them. Emily is not just academically minded — majoring in chemistry and planning to study astrobiology for her graduate degree — but street smart, as well. A lengthy soliloquy prior to the start of the drama reveals how uniquely equipped Emily is to handle an infectious microbe. Once the action starts to ramp up, Emily proves to be the most capable character in The Beach House , maneuvering not just herself but her injured boyfriend to safety. Watching Emily pour white vinegar over her wounded foot and surgically wrench out a lengthy white worm is stomach-turning . It’s hard to linger in the gross-out, however, when Emily is quick to get back on her proverbial feet and save her boyfriend. All the viewer can truly feel is impressed.

After watching Emily manage to run around with an injured foot, while practically carrying Randall and breathing in the toxic air, it is infuriating that she doesn’t earn her final girl status. Liana Liberato is not a physically imposing actress. Despite this, she endures insane physical obstacles, not only for herself but for her boyfriend as well. Liberato imbues Emily with a strength of character that makes the audience want to cheer for her . Watching her get functionally swallowed by the ocean in the final scene is devastating. Regardless of how brilliant and capable Emily proved herself to be, by the end of The Beach House , the microorganism has likewise demonstrated how it is the perfect antagonist.

The Beach House plays with themes and visuals associated with Lovecraftian horror. The sliminess of the gore and zombie costumes evokes the naturalistic origins of the microbe. As the infection spreads and devours not just the film’s main cast of characters, but the entire seaside town, the apathetic nature of the microbe proves to be infinitely more terrifying than the frankly impressive body horror. While Emily’s failure to escape by the end of the movie is devastating, it only goes to show just how scarily effective the microbe is. The uneasy tone The Beach House ends on ensures this debut will stick with the audience for a while.

The Beach House is available to stream on Shudder.

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A Haunting in Venice movie review (2023)
"A Haunting in Venice" is the best of Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot movies. It's also one of Branagh's best, period, thanks to the way Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green dismantle and reinvent the source material (Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party) to create a relentlessly clever, visually dense "old" movie that uses the latest technology.
A Haunting in Venice
A darker and spookier spin on Branagh's Poirot, A Haunting in Venice is a decent Halloween snack whose undemanding mystery gets a lift from nifty visuals and an all-star cast.
'A Haunting in Venice' Review: A Whodunit With a Splash of Horror
Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in this adaptation of a ghostly mystery from Agatha Christie, with assists from Michelle Yeoh and Tina Fey.
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A Haunting in Venice elevates well-worn genre tropes with exceptional casting and filmmaking flair to create a satisfying experience. Full Review | Oct 25, 2023
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You can always count on Agatha Christie for a surprise, and the big twist in A Haunting in Venice is that it's actually a pretty terrific movie.
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A Haunting in Venice review: Kenneth Branagh scares up his best Poirot film yet Branagh portrays Agatha Christie's favorite detective for the third time in this supernatural thriller.
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September 9, 2023 4:00pm. Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 'A Haunting in Venice' Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. Like Agatha Christie herself, Kenneth Branagh found a reliable formula for ...
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
A Haunting in Venice: Directed by Kenneth Branagh. With Kenneth Branagh, Dylan Corbett-Bader, Amir El-Masry, Riccardo Scamarcio. In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.
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A Haunting In Venice Review. Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has retired to Venice. His old friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) asks him to investigate charismatic psychic Mrs Reynolds (Michelle ...
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A Haunting in Venice review: Kenneth Branagh's Poirot at Halloween fails to haunt. Yes it's his best Poirot yet, no that's not saying THAT much. To say this is Kenneth Branagh 's "best ...
A Haunting in Venice Review
An off-kilter horror-comedy told with breakneck momentum, A Haunting in Venice is a wild stylistic departure from Kenneth Branagh's previous Poirot mysteries. However, it continues the series ...
A Haunting in Venice
In post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), now retired and living in self-imposed exile, reluctantly attends a seance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the former detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets. Based upon the novel Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie.
A Haunting in Venice
A Haunting in Venice was released in the United States on September 15, 2023, by 20th Century Studios. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $122.3 million worldwide.
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A Haunting in Venice, which is mainly set indoors, during a storm, and in the late hours of Halloween night -- when the barrier between the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest -- plays with more shadowy, angular, and even hallucinogenic filmmaking. Author Agatha Christie published the source novel, Hallowe'en Party, in 1969, more ...
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At its core, A Haunting in Venice is a classic ghost story, unfolding over a single spine-tingling night in 1947 as we meet Detective Poirot ( Branagh) now retired from police work, disillusioned by humanity, and having shut himself off from the rest of world. That is until mystery writer Ariadne Oliver ( Tina Fey) informs the Detective about ...
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Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of the Poirot mystery "A Haunting in Venice" is much less zany than its predecessor, but that's not necessarily a good thing.
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