Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Third film version of Agatha Christie's mystery whodunit (following 1945's "And Then There Were None" and 1965's "Ten Little Indians") has a seemingly disparate group of people flown out to an ornate but empty hotel in the Iranian desert by an unknown benefactor. Once settled in, the group learns they do have something in common: at one time in their lives, each was responsible for the death of another person--and none of them paid the price for their crimes. Not badly made or cast, just deadly dull; even the curious new location isn't used to any advantage. Peter Collinson directs without invention or energy. Script by Erich Kröhnke, Enrique Llovet and Peter Welbeck (a pseudonym for Harry Alan Towers, who also produced) is awfully similar to the screenplay for the 1965 version, coincidentally also co-written and produced by Towers. NO STARS from ****

Harry Alan Towers, producer of schlock and international adventure on a low budget, is the man behind this reworking of the Agatha Christie novel, alternatively titled AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. It's a highly simplistic murder mystery, about a group of disparate types being bumped off one by one, so Towers goes all out in an attempt to attract audiences.He does this by assembling an ensemble cast of famous faces. You get a typically tough Oliver Reed as the heroic lead, and Elke Sommer as his love interest. In support we're handed the likes of Richard Attenborough and genre stalwart Herbert Lom playing against no less than two former Bond villains in Gert Froebe and Adolfo Celi. If that wasn't enough, there's a minor role for Euro crumpet Maria Rohm and some voice work for no less than Orson Welles.Directorial duties are handled adroitly by Brit director Peter Collinson, responsible for Michael Caine classic THE Italian JOB and Hammer psycho-thriller STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING amongst other flicks. And it's a well paced and fairly mysterious affair, strong on predictability but also atmosphere and style. It's not a film that's going to win awards or anything, but it's definitely worth a watch.

There is a pleasingly old-fashioned aura about this 1974 film: the killings are creepy but not gory; the locations and sets are majestic; the camera movements are slow and carefully thought out; the humor is subtle and not in-your-face ("After you, Judge." - "No, my dear Doctor, I insist. After you."). The diverse cast offers major cult value (two former Bond villains in the same film!), and there is also a grand, sometimes chilling score by Bruno Nicolai. After a load of red herrings, the very last scene is a bit underwhelming - perhaps if they had gone with the book's original, more logical and much darker conclusion, the ending would have been more powerful. Nevertheless, the 1974 "And Then There Were None" is considerably better than its reputation suggests. **1/2 out of 4.

This was the third version of Agatha Christie's immensely popular "Ten Little Indians", the story of a group of strangers who are mysteriously invited to a remote hotel where they soon discover they are to face judgement for the crimes of their past.No stunning performances from the cast (which included Oliver Reed, Herbert Lom, Elke Sommer, Sir Richard Attenborough and the voice of Orson Welles) and some may find the music a little too much, but all this hardly matters as the real fun is trying to figure out who is bumping off all the guests.Christie fans will enjoy trying to crack her complex puzzle, in another good film murder-mystery lovers should relish.Sunday, September 19, 1993 - Video