I watched the movie last Tuesday to see if it was worth being watched in theatres. After viewing, these were my thoughts regarding the story and its aspects.
The plot is a whodunnit with a horror spin. The film begins with retired Poirot, who tries to live a quiet life until he gets invited to the seance of a girl who killed herself after being “cursed.” And then someone gets murdered, and the Poirot has to figure out who the murderer is. Plotwise, it’s pretty familiar.
Let’s talk about acting. Everyone was decent, but no standouts. Kenneth Branagh returned as the detective Hercule Poirot, who kept the unique accent you needed subtitles for. Sometimes it’s so hard to make out of the dialogue. Everyone else was just playing the usual suspects, but they used more under-the-radar actors. Pretty sure it was to save budget or to avoid potential controversies regarding the actors (ahem, Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer).
The cinematography was fantastic. Post-war Venice never felt so haunting yet beautiful and alive, and the director captures the spirit of the city of its time so well. Aside from the scenery, I felt some scenes cut away too fast. I thought Kenneth Branagh was influenced by Christopher Nolan’s quick cuts, but not in the right way. Imagine a man falling off a bridge, but the scene cuts right before he crashes into the water.
The movie soundtrack was very eerie, made of cello. I thought I recognized the style somewhere, and it was the award-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. She was also the composer for Chernobyl and Joker, for which she won an Emmy and Oscar, respectively. Her cello truly suited the mysterious and horror aspect of the movie.
What really made me watch the film in theatres is its horror aspect. The prequels Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile had colourful, family-friendly whodunnit movie vibes. But this one was more like a haunted house movie with plenty of jumpscares (most are predictable, though). One specific kill (without spoiling) was creative and violent, that if it showed blood, it would have gotten an R rating instantly instead of PG-13. The film may be more mature than previous films, but it’s still a movie based on a kid’s mystery book series.
A Haunting In Venice may be better than the previous instalments and have beautiful scenes to stare at, but it wasn’t a desirable film. The horror aspect paid off well, but it feels like those movies you just watch out of curiosity or to kill time, knowing the plot will be as expected.
My verdict? Stream it.