This one gets a lot of slamming for apparently changing a whole lot from the original novel (including the killer!), but personally, not having read it (in fact, not having even heard of that particular novel), I can't say I minded. Besides, you can look at it this way: the film being so different from the book gives an extra incentive to people who see the film before reading the book to go and get the book to enjoy a whole new story! Not that the film is flawless: the first half is hard to follow, and there are far too many tilted camera angles (with the action confined to a castle and an inn, both cut off by a snowstorm, the director didn't need to overreach for an effect of claustrophobia). But the mystery does become gripping in the second half, and the solution is unpredictable. Could you pass this off as a genuine Agatha Christie story to someone who hadn't read it? I actually think you could. Timothy Dalton (never one of my favorite Bonds) has a high old time playing a larger-than-life and complex character, while James Murray and Zoe Telford have a strong, almost sensual chemistry. **1/2 out of 4.
Review of The Sittaford Mystery
