WARWICK SHOWCASE

A HAUNTING IN VENICE
* * *
(Spooky, Talky Whodunnit)

Kenneth Branagh is back as detective Hercule Poirot. This time around the year is 1947 and he teams up with mystery novel writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) to solve the murder of a young girl in Venice.

Of course, more murders occur during their investigation.

Poirot has retired and hired a bodyguard to keep the hoards of potential customers away from him.

Ariadne has made it to Poirot’s villa and convinces him to attend a children’s party on Halloween eve, followed by a séance. The astute detective exposes the rigged seance, beginning a night of terror, within the seemingly haunted old house set on the Venice waterways.

There are lots of long bangs to keep the audience jumping and a few red herrings to throw the audience off as Poirot solves the murders.

There are the usual suspects, including a doctor and his weird son, the housekeeper (There’s always a housekeeper), an ex-fiancé, and a young mysterious couple.

Things go bump in the night, more deaths occur, characters are accused and Poirot finally puts two and two together and comes up with the killer.

Too much talk, not enough action.

A nice performance by Fey who proves that she is more than a funny face.

While most of the movie takes place inside the house, there are few interesting shots of Venice.