Title - A Haunting In Venice
Production - 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Studios
Starring - Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Riccardo Scamarcio, Kyle Allen, Jamie Dornan, Camille Cotton, Jude Hill, Kelly Reilly, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Rowan Robinson
Writer - Michael Green
Director - Kenneth Branagh
Release - 14 September 2023
Consciously or inadvertently, Kenneth Branagh made a horror; and it was great.
This was another Hercule Poirot story, a "whodunnit" with a horror theme. The story wasn't going for anything new, and it probably followed closely to what Agatha Christie wrote.
Branagh also gathered some great performers here, particularly young Jude Hill - a second collaboration after Belfast. I thought the world of him then, and I still do now.
There wasn't much of a acting-stretch for Branagh in this role. The thing that makes this kind of story interesting is how the director revealed the ending after the journey. Again, there was nothing new here; but because it was a crossover of sorts this time between the "whodunnit" and horror, there was a different element to be enticed with.
And the way some scenes were shot would put other lesser horror directors to shame. Together with his long-time cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos, the way some scenes were framed looked like a prelude to a jump scare. And though that jump scare never came, that horror element had such a strong presence due to the setup.
With Branagh, there's always some humour, and the few ones that appeared had quite a good punch to them.
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