"Ten Little Indians": A Movie Review
Hello faithful readers,
It has been *far* too long since my last blog posting. Since my last post, I've had some pretty consistent videography and editing work, and I'd like to say that's the reason I haven't written anything of late, but the truth is, I haven't thought of anything that interesting.
However, today I have a movie review for you all. For the past two years, I've been wanting to continue my cinematic education by watching a new movie a day; old ones, classics, indies, foreign films- it didn't matter. Then, an editor by the name of Quint at AintItCoolNews, a movie news website I've visited everyday since late 1996, created a column called "A Movie a Day" last year where he watched and reviewed a movie every day for a few months.
It inspired me to start watching films again. The problem was, I didn't go to Blockbuster anymore partly out of economic reasons, but partly out of laziness too. And while NetFlix would be the best bang for my buck, being cheap and easy, I felt the need to support my local indie video rental store, VisArt. The problem was, I could never bring myself to drive over to Visart, despite the fact that its only a few blocks away.
All that changed last friday as I found myself at the very corner of 7th St and Pecan Ave where VisArt is located. After having spent the day getting work done, running errands, and generally being very productive, I felt it was finally time to step back into VisArt.
I hadn't been there in probably nine years. I didn't know if I even still had a membership card, and as it turns out, I had been using my father's card way back in 1999/2000 when I was looking for Akira Kurosawa films to use as research for my Senior Exit Essay project in high school.
So, I got a new card, and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of incredible films, both classic and rare, I strolled through the aisles without any idea of what I wanted to watch that night, hoping a movie would jump out at me. As I made my way to the foreign film section, I remembered that I really enjoyed Korean director Bong Joon-Ho's comic horror film "The Host", and had heard his previous film "Memories of Murder", which detailed the search for South Korea's first serial killer, was quite good. So I grabbed it.
Walking through another aisle, the box for "Ten Little Indians" jumped out at me, and remembering that Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery had inspired such films as "The Usual Suspects" and "Clue", I thought it'd be a good companion to my other film about murder and mayhem.
"Ten Little Indians" is about ten strangers who are summoned to a remote location (originally an island, in this adaptation an isolated, snowy mountain mansion) by a mysterious Mr. U.N. Owen (get it? He's Mr. UNknOwen). The group is comprised of an actress, a popular young singer, a doctor, a judge, a general, a private investigator, an engineer, a secretary who was told she would be working for Mr. Owen, and two servants hired by him as well (through an agency), though no one has ever met the man.
After dinner on the first night, the servant was instructed (per Mr. Owen) to start a recording. He thought it would play music but is surprised to hear Mr. Owen (an uncredited Christopher Lee, a perfect use for a voice as awesome as his) address each guest and reveal their dark secrets. It turns out that each guest has been responsible for the death of an innocent person, and Mr. Owen intends for them to pay for their crimes. The guests discover each room has a copy of the old nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indians" hanging from the walls. Might its lyrics, with such lines as "Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine," be a clue as to how each member will meet his or her fate?
As guests are picked off one by one in line with the nursery rhyme, the survivors begin to distrust each other and conclude that Mr. Owen, the killer, is actually one of the guests pretending to be someone else. Some will pick sides, trusting one other person to help discover the killer, others will go at it alone. Some will choose to confess their guilt while others maintain their innocence in regards to the deaths Mr.Owen mentioned in his recording.
While this premise makes for a very excellent thriller, I was surprised at how light the tone was, which might be a reflection of the decade in which this was made (it was released in 1965 and is black and white). Right off the bat we're in the swinging sixties as jazzy music plays over the opening credits, an unexpected choice given the subject matter. I hardly remember any moments in which the music was tense. Most of the time it was pretty playful and often included strains of the nursery rhyme's tune. This took away from some of the tension, and I feel it didn't live up to its potential. I couldn't help but think had Alfred Hitchcock directed this film, it would have been an instant classic thriller.
That's not to say its not a good film. I very much enjoyed trying to figure out who was Mr. Owen or if he was indeed part of the group, and there was a twist at the end that I really did not see coming (I've learned the ending is different than it was in the original novel by Christie). It was interesting seeing what lines from the nursery rhyme would be used to kill each guest, as some of the lyrics involve bee stings and bear maulings, animals which I wouldn't expect to find in a snowy, mountain mansion.
This film was also the first (and maybe last) to feature a "WHODUNIT? BREAK!" in which, just before the final reveal, the film pauses for a minute and flashbacks to the previous killings to help you try and figure out who the killer is. Its a bit gimmicky (and removed from the film on DVD, you can find it in the Special Features). As I said, I was surprised by the end when all was said and done.
I was also surprised to see that "Clue", an awesome comedic adaptation of the classic board game from the 80's, is almost a straight-up remake of "Ten Little Indians". Only the guests don't get murdered in "Clue", the poor souls that visit the mansion during the mystery do. Its easy to see how "The Usual Suspects" was influenced by it too, taking the premise of random strangers thrown together by a mysterious and powerful man who knows their dark secrets and who might actually be one of the group members.
So good points:
-Christopher Lee's uncredited voice
-the rather attractive Daliah Lavi playing the actress
-the servant who looked just like Alfred Molina
-the famous premise
-the creative deaths
-the mystery
And some bad points:
-the light tone at times
-the jazzy, non-suspenseful music
-the quick resolution
I rather enjoyed the film and would like to see its other incarnations, including 1945's "And Then There Were None", the 1974 version of "Indians" (featuring Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough) and 1989's adaptation (with Donald Pleasance and FRANK STALLONE!). And actually, I think this would be a GREAT remake for today's time. For one, its been remade so many times, so I don't think anyone can say only *one* film is a classic and can't be touched (its also been made into a stage play), and two, horror remakes are all the rage. I wouldn't turn this into a straight horror/slasher film, but I think its a great thriller and can be retooled for modern audiences. In fact, I've already written notes for an updated adaptation and will add it to my long list of future projects to one day concentrate on. So please, don't get any ideas (and please don't steal mine). If one day you see an update of "Ten Little Indians" starring a bunch of teenagers, you'll know I got screwed.
Next review will be of Bong Joon-Ho's "Memories of Murder", and while I don't have the time to do a movie a day, as much as I'd like, I'll try to make this a consistent project.
Stay tuned, True Believers,
--Cbake
It has been *far* too long since my last blog posting. Since my last post, I've had some pretty consistent videography and editing work, and I'd like to say that's the reason I haven't written anything of late, but the truth is, I haven't thought of anything that interesting.
However, today I have a movie review for you all. For the past two years, I've been wanting to continue my cinematic education by watching a new movie a day; old ones, classics, indies, foreign films- it didn't matter. Then, an editor by the name of Quint at AintItCoolNews, a movie news website I've visited everyday since late 1996, created a column called "A Movie a Day" last year where he watched and reviewed a movie every day for a few months.
It inspired me to start watching films again. The problem was, I didn't go to Blockbuster anymore partly out of economic reasons, but partly out of laziness too. And while NetFlix would be the best bang for my buck, being cheap and easy, I felt the need to support my local indie video rental store, VisArt. The problem was, I could never bring myself to drive over to Visart, despite the fact that its only a few blocks away.
All that changed last friday as I found myself at the very corner of 7th St and Pecan Ave where VisArt is located. After having spent the day getting work done, running errands, and generally being very productive, I felt it was finally time to step back into VisArt.
I hadn't been there in probably nine years. I didn't know if I even still had a membership card, and as it turns out, I had been using my father's card way back in 1999/2000 when I was looking for Akira Kurosawa films to use as research for my Senior Exit Essay project in high school.
So, I got a new card, and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of incredible films, both classic and rare, I strolled through the aisles without any idea of what I wanted to watch that night, hoping a movie would jump out at me. As I made my way to the foreign film section, I remembered that I really enjoyed Korean director Bong Joon-Ho's comic horror film "The Host", and had heard his previous film "Memories of Murder", which detailed the search for South Korea's first serial killer, was quite good. So I grabbed it.
Walking through another aisle, the box for "Ten Little Indians" jumped out at me, and remembering that Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery had inspired such films as "The Usual Suspects" and "Clue", I thought it'd be a good companion to my other film about murder and mayhem.
"Ten Little Indians" is about ten strangers who are summoned to a remote location (originally an island, in this adaptation an isolated, snowy mountain mansion) by a mysterious Mr. U.N. Owen (get it? He's Mr. UNknOwen). The group is comprised of an actress, a popular young singer, a doctor, a judge, a general, a private investigator, an engineer, a secretary who was told she would be working for Mr. Owen, and two servants hired by him as well (through an agency), though no one has ever met the man.
After dinner on the first night, the servant was instructed (per Mr. Owen) to start a recording. He thought it would play music but is surprised to hear Mr. Owen (an uncredited Christopher Lee, a perfect use for a voice as awesome as his) address each guest and reveal their dark secrets. It turns out that each guest has been responsible for the death of an innocent person, and Mr. Owen intends for them to pay for their crimes. The guests discover each room has a copy of the old nursery rhyme "Ten Little Indians" hanging from the walls. Might its lyrics, with such lines as "Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine," be a clue as to how each member will meet his or her fate?
As guests are picked off one by one in line with the nursery rhyme, the survivors begin to distrust each other and conclude that Mr. Owen, the killer, is actually one of the guests pretending to be someone else. Some will pick sides, trusting one other person to help discover the killer, others will go at it alone. Some will choose to confess their guilt while others maintain their innocence in regards to the deaths Mr.Owen mentioned in his recording.
While this premise makes for a very excellent thriller, I was surprised at how light the tone was, which might be a reflection of the decade in which this was made (it was released in 1965 and is black and white). Right off the bat we're in the swinging sixties as jazzy music plays over the opening credits, an unexpected choice given the subject matter. I hardly remember any moments in which the music was tense. Most of the time it was pretty playful and often included strains of the nursery rhyme's tune. This took away from some of the tension, and I feel it didn't live up to its potential. I couldn't help but think had Alfred Hitchcock directed this film, it would have been an instant classic thriller.
That's not to say its not a good film. I very much enjoyed trying to figure out who was Mr. Owen or if he was indeed part of the group, and there was a twist at the end that I really did not see coming (I've learned the ending is different than it was in the original novel by Christie). It was interesting seeing what lines from the nursery rhyme would be used to kill each guest, as some of the lyrics involve bee stings and bear maulings, animals which I wouldn't expect to find in a snowy, mountain mansion.
This film was also the first (and maybe last) to feature a "WHODUNIT? BREAK!" in which, just before the final reveal, the film pauses for a minute and flashbacks to the previous killings to help you try and figure out who the killer is. Its a bit gimmicky (and removed from the film on DVD, you can find it in the Special Features). As I said, I was surprised by the end when all was said and done.
I was also surprised to see that "Clue", an awesome comedic adaptation of the classic board game from the 80's, is almost a straight-up remake of "Ten Little Indians". Only the guests don't get murdered in "Clue", the poor souls that visit the mansion during the mystery do. Its easy to see how "The Usual Suspects" was influenced by it too, taking the premise of random strangers thrown together by a mysterious and powerful man who knows their dark secrets and who might actually be one of the group members.
So good points:
-Christopher Lee's uncredited voice
-the rather attractive Daliah Lavi playing the actress
-the servant who looked just like Alfred Molina
-the famous premise
-the creative deaths
-the mystery
And some bad points:
-the light tone at times
-the jazzy, non-suspenseful music
-the quick resolution
I rather enjoyed the film and would like to see its other incarnations, including 1945's "And Then There Were None", the 1974 version of "Indians" (featuring Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough) and 1989's adaptation (with Donald Pleasance and FRANK STALLONE!). And actually, I think this would be a GREAT remake for today's time. For one, its been remade so many times, so I don't think anyone can say only *one* film is a classic and can't be touched (its also been made into a stage play), and two, horror remakes are all the rage. I wouldn't turn this into a straight horror/slasher film, but I think its a great thriller and can be retooled for modern audiences. In fact, I've already written notes for an updated adaptation and will add it to my long list of future projects to one day concentrate on. So please, don't get any ideas (and please don't steal mine). If one day you see an update of "Ten Little Indians" starring a bunch of teenagers, you'll know I got screwed.
Next review will be of Bong Joon-Ho's "Memories of Murder", and while I don't have the time to do a movie a day, as much as I'd like, I'll try to make this a consistent project.
Stay tuned, True Believers,
--Cbake
posted by Cbake at 11:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home