A Haunting in Venice – Budget of $60 million – 1 hour and 43 minutes
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Hercule Poirot retires in Venice and avoids new cases with the help of his bodyguard, Vitale Portfoglio. Vitale runs to Hercule’s rooftop with a message from a friend. Hercule corrects Vitale and states he doesn’t have friends. Then, Vitale shows Hercule an apple, and Hercule knows that author Ariadne Oliver is there. An actress, Rowena Drake, hired a medium, Joyce Reynolds, to communicate with her deceased daughter, Alicia, in a séance. Alicia committed suicide after her fiancé, Maxime, left her and six months later became engaged to another woman. With Joyce’s help, Rowena prays to talk to Alicia again. Ariadne was able to uncover fakes before but believes Joyce is the real deal. Ariadne is writing a book about Joyce, and proving Joyce wrong will make the book a best-seller.
Hercule, Ariadne, and Vitale arrive at Rowena’s home and hear it’s haunted history. Rowena opens her doors to let the children play on Halloween, but Leopold wants to read his book instead. Leopold doesn’t want to participate in the activities because his father, Dr. Ferrier, suffers from trauma from his service in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. Rowen hired Dr. Ferrier to care for Alicia after she started having delusions. Rowena allows Dr. Ferrier and Leopold to attend the séance. Joyce arrives with her assistant, Desdemona Holland, wearing a cloak and mask. Before everyone walks into the salon, Rowena’s housekeeper, Olga Semioff, screams at the front door. Maxime received an invitation to the séance and demands to attend.
Joyce puts a typewriter in the corner of the room, and Desdemona stands next to it. Joyce considers herself a dictator of the spirit world. Joyce has Olga, Ariadne, Dr. Ferrier, Leopold, and Rowena surround her as she calls Alicia to speak from beyond the grave. Alicia connects to Joyce and says someone murdered her through the typewriter. Hercule stops the séance and exposes Joyce’s fraud. Desdemona’s half-brother, Nicholas, hid in the fireplace and signaled the typewriter. As Hercule readies to put the case to bed, windows fly open, and Joyce spends around uncontrollably speaking with Alicia’s voice. She comes out of the trance and offers more information about Alicia’s killer in the morning.
Privately, Hercule confronts Joyce for using Rowena’s desperation for financial gain. Joyce doesn’t think a little white lie will hurt anyone. But she puts her mask and cloak on Hercule and tells him to do better than her. Hercule indulges in a children’s game of bobbing apples, and someone pushes his face into the water. Hercule slips out of consciousness before seeing the perpetrator. He wakes up to Vitale standing over him. Then, they all hear a scream and find Joyce impaled after someone threw her off a balcony. Rowena believes that ghosts killed Joyce, but Hercule knows better. He locks everyone inside the house and plans to investigate. Hercule doesn’t believe in ghosts or God but starts to see and hear things around the house. Can Hercule uncover the killer before losing his mind?
Based on Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie, this movie starts with Hercule happily leaving the mystery world behind (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). Ariadne sparks his interest with a Halloween séance. The house has a horrid history with a plague, causing doctors and nurses to leave children to die. This tale leaves the plot open to ghosts with targets in their crosshairs. This film has plot points from Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. There is more than one victim, hidden connections, and several mysteries. Hercule fans know to keep their eyes and ears open for every clue. And this time, you may spot the nugget of truth hidden in a brief exchange. Don’t worry because every question will have an answer. This movie isn’t the best, but you will leave the theater satisfied.
I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars
I don’t have any friends – Hercule
That’s for the orphans – Leopold
This one will be very sad – Joyce
If I am trapped here, so are you – Olga
You can’t trap us here – Maxime
I should be taking care of you – Dr. Ferrier
That is happiness, not satisfaction – Ariadne
What do we do? She was our ticket – Nicholas
In Venice, we say every home is haunted or cursed – Vitale
Bobo the Rabbit – Rowena
Missouri – Desdemona
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