The third film of the hercule poirot series directed by kenneth branagh, Venetian fright night, marks a turning point in the series. The first movie was Blana’s remake of Murder on the Orient Express in 2017, which was a great success at the box office, while the last movie, The Massacre on the Nile, was one of the worst movies at the box office in 2022.
Unlike Blana’s remakes of The Massacre on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express, The Venetian fright night is adapted from agatha christie’s novel The Murder on Halloween, which was never filmed in 1969. The supernatural theme of Venetian fright night clearly shows that after the tragedy on the Nile failed, the master tried to attract a wider and younger audience, especially horror fans.
Indeed, Blana made The Venetian fright night into a Gothic horror film, and the legendary Belgian detective Poirot played by Blana visited a mansion that is said to be haunted, where he witnessed a seance on Halloween night and saw the ghostly vision of the dead child. A series of seemingly supernatural events challenged Poirot’s once indestructible belief in logic and science. Of course, he finally solved the murder case related to the seance.
In addition, if the success of Venetian fright night is enough to inspire the fourth film adapted from Poirot, Blana has enough material to choose from. After all, Poirot has been featured in Christie’s 33 novels and 51 short stories.
Kenneth branagh’s 2017 remake of Murder on the Orient Express, a film of the same name from 1974, is the first film adapted from hercule poirot’s detective story since it was adapted from agatha christie’s 1938 film appointment with death. The last film before appointment with death was Evil Under the Sun, which was adapted from Christie’s 1941 novel of the same name in 1982.
Since after Murder on the Orient Express, Blana and michael green, the creative partner and screenwriter of this series of films, made a remake of the movie of the same name on the Nile in 2022, it is logically inferred that if Blana and Green want to make another remake after The Ghost of Venice, they should continue to remake appointment with death or Evil Under the Sun in chronological order.
In 1982′ s Evil Under the Sun, Poirot, played by Peter Ustinov, investigates the murder of a notorious stage actress who was strangled on a seemingly idyllic holiday island in the Adriatic Sea. In appointment with death in 1988, Poirot, also played by Ustinov, investigated the murder of an evil stepmother who was found dead in an archaeological excavation near the Dead Sea.
The first Poirot film is the now-lost 1931 detective suspense film "alibi", which was adapted from Christie’s famous novel "Roger Mystery" in 1926. In this film, Poirot, played by Austin Trevor, investigates a suspicious suicide in a country manor.
In view of the fact that fright night in Venice is adapted from agatha christie’s only supernatural theme novel, The Murder on Halloween, it is difficult for kenneth branagh to find another Poirot novel to copy this pattern. Assuming that Blana’s supernatural style in fright night in Venice is very popular with the audience, he may be forced to repeat this technique in the fourth Poirot film.
However, if Blana wants to adapt another Poirot novel that has not been filmed before, there are several interesting options to choose from. For example, in 1920, Poirot’s novel "mysterious affair at styles" was Christie’s first novel. At the beginning of the novel, Christie introduced Poirot as a Belgian refugee in World War I, and he tried to settle in Britain with the help of an elderly rich woman who was later murdered.
In 1936, Christie’s Poirot novel "Card" began with Poirot attending an art exhibition, where he met Mr. Chattana, a gorgeous and mysterious collector and crime lover. He invited Poirot to a dinner party, where Poirot met the crime writer Ariadne Oliver-this was the first time they met. Also present were Colonel Reece, a British secret service agent, Inspector Bart of Scotland Yard and four other guests, each of whom Shattana believed was guilty of murder.
Poirot’s 1942 novel Five Little Pigs is considered by many fans of Christie as one of her best novels. In the novel, Poirot investigated five people for a poisoning case 16 years ago. The wife of the deceased was wrongly murdered and later died in prison. In her last letter, she declared her innocence to her daughter, so her daughter asked Poirot to re-investigate the case.
In The Venetian fright night, hercule poirot, played by kenneth branagh, meets Ariadne Oliver, a close friend and unofficial partner of Poirot, a suspense novelist. Oliver is famous for his series of mystery novel and many murders solved by Poirot.
In this film, Oliver, played by tina fey, tries to get rid of Poirot’s isolation and invites Poirot to accompany her to a Halloween party and a seance in a mansion. Oliver hopes Poirot can help her expose a famous psychic who she thinks is a liar.
In addition, The Venetian fright night clearly laid the foundation for a lasting partnership between Oliver and Poirot. Besides the murder on Halloween, Oliver also appeared in five other Poirot novels. It seems that the next Poirot film is likely to be adapted from one of the remaining Oliver Poirot novels.