MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 19 -- DVD review by porfle

With Acorn Media's 4-disc collection MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 19, we return once again to that sleepy English county where every quaint little village has a murder rate that would make the average urban dweller's hair stand on end. 

Putting forth his best effort to root out the killers and make those unquiet burgs safe again for farmers, shopkeepers, and greedy country squires is former MI6 agent Tom Barnaby, now a detective chief inspector who'd rather be having a pint in front of the telly if there weren't a murder to solve every five minutes.  He seems a hair's breadth away from retirement in the small town of Causton with his lovely wife Joyce (Jane Wymark), with whom he shares an amusingly prickly relationship, but every new case clearly gives him that certain buzz he undoubtedly lives for.

As played to a tee by John Nettles, Barnaby's easygoing demeanor and wry wit are only one side of the coin--the tenacious, no-nonsense detective has a razor-sharp intellect and little tolerance for lawbreakers or suspects who try to dodge his probing questions.  His dignity is rarely ruffled, which is more than can be said for his younger partner, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones (Jason Hughes), who, while capable enough, is often the brunt of both Barnaby's mischievous sense of humor and his withering criticism.  But we know that the older detective is confident his partner will evolve into a top detective with the benefit of his daily tutelage.

The four feature-length episodes in this set should be familiar stuff to longtime fans of the series while varying considerably in quality.  First up is "The Made-to-Measure Murders", a typical Midsomer tale in which a series of gruesome murders sparks smalltown intrigue and keeps the local gossip mill churning.  It begins with an unlikable man dying of a heart attack in his garden, whereupon we find his widow on the two-year anniversary of his death suffering from some mysterious guilt that she's about to confess to the village vicar before she's brutally murdered right outside the church.  

Meanwhile, the tailor shop owned by the deceased man's brother and son is one of the businesses in danger of being closed by their landlord, a wealthy landowner who runs the town like a feudal estate.  As tempers flare and desperation mounts, more murders are imminent even as Barnaby and DS Jones are being fitted for new suits (Jones wants one just like Cary Grant wore in NORTH BY NORTHWEST).  Forensic expert Dr. Bullard (series regular Barry Jackson) ponders the strange symmetrical slash marks on the victims' throats while Barnaby tries to find a motive for the killings among the various suspects.  It's a solid episode, though one the writers could probably come up with in their sleep at this point.

Much more fun is "The Sword of Guillaume", in which our detectives accompany the Causton town council on a bus trip to Brighton beach where the mayors of the two towns are enmeshed in the usual shady land dealings which seem to fuel many of these stories.  A festive setting and colorful cast of guest characters make this one of the livelier entries as does a series of gory beheadings by a cloked figure wielding an ancient sword, one of which takes place in the seaside amusement park's spook ride. 

With a very unusual motive for murder, some intriguing surprises, and enough morbid touches to make Dario Argento smile, "The Sword of Guillaume" is my favorite episode in this collection.  Mark Gatiss, currently a producer, writer, and co-star (as Mycroft Holmes) of the successful "Sherlock" series, is in peak form here as Rev. Giles Shawcross, a profoundly conflicted priest with a terrible secret.  Also making his first appearance as Barnaby's cousin DCI John Barnaby is Neil Dudgeon, who will eventually replace Tom Nettles as the series' star.

Next comes "Blood on the Saddle", which is, I can say without reservation, the goofiest installment of the show that I've seen thus far.  Not that it isn't fun, because it is, with our protagonists taking part in a Wild West fair that includes ropin', ridin', gunfights, and, of course, murder.  However, the writers must've been smoking something funny when they came up with this one.

Once again the apparent motive involves a land dispute between dueling families, the sort of plot complication that I find totally uninteresting in this sort of story, so instead I concentrated on how weird it was seeing a bunch of Brits dressed like cowboys and acting like Billy the Kid.  After watching one victim get roped and dragged to death by an unknown outlaw, we're treated to a fantasy sequence with Barnaby and Jones in full Western regalia fleeing down the main street of Dodge City with the killer blasting away at them with both six-guns.  You haven't lived until you've seen John Nettles as Wyatt Earp--it's kind of like watching Fred Dalton Thompson play the Duke of Windsor.

Lastly, "The Silent Land" brings us back to (relatively) normal Midsomer territory with a dark and atmospheric tale in which a lonely man is murdered upon the grave of a long-dead girl with whom he's become mysteriously obsessed.  The graveyard adjoins an abandoned sanitarium where people suffering with TB once came to die, now empty but host to some strange goings-on that might possibly be supernatural in origin. 

Even the level-headed Mrs. Barnaby drives off the road one night when she sees a ghostly figure passing in front of her car, although her skeptical husband and their daughter Cully (Laura Howard) suspect her of seeing things.  Danny Webb (ALIEN 3) gives a delightful guest performance as a con man running "ghost tours" through the old graveyard and sanitarium, while the lovely Christina Cole plays a librarian who stands to benefit from the original murder.  There are plenty of other suspects, however, in this eerie tale which ends on a suitably spooky note.

The DVD set from Acorn Media contains four discs in slimline cases, all of which are in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles.  The sole extra is a brief photo gallery for "Blood on the Saddle."  (Also available in a 2-disc Blu-Ray version.)

Midsomer fans will want to check out MIDSOMER MYSTERIES: SET 19 while newbies should find it a fairly pleasing collection of detective stories that presents the long-running series at both its best and worst.  Even when not quite up to par or coasting over familiar ground, the adventures of DCI Tom Barnaby continue to be a satisfying and often delightfully amusing way for mystery buffs to pass some quality TV time.



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MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 19 -- DVD review by porfle

THE DEAD -- DVD review by porfle

With the release of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, it turned out that George Romero, in addition to creating a classic zombie movie, had established a basic premise that would inspire a seemingly endless number of variations, continuations, and reimaginings.  One of the latest chapters in the saga of what happened after "that night" is the Ford Brothers' THE DEAD (2010), a rich and surprisingly moving horror-adventure tale set in the wilds of Africa.

As usual in the post-Romero zombie apocalyptic world, no explanation for the fact that the dead are rising and eating the living is necessary before we're plunged right into the story.  This time an American Air Force engineer named Lt. Brian Murphy (Rob Freeman) is on a doomed evacuation flight attempting to flee a zombie-ridden Africa before going down near the coast.  Making it to shore, Murphy then sets out through the perilous bush country to find another means of escape so that he may somehow rejoin his wife and daughter.

Meanwhile, an African soldier named Sgt. Daniel Dembele (Prince David Oseia) returns to his ravaged village to find his wife dead and his son having been taken to a distant military base.  He and Murphy eventually hook up and, after a slow process of gaining each other's trust, become allies in their mutual quest to survive the inexorable zombie onslaught as they travel through the wasteland in an abandoned truck. 

While delivering the sort of gruesome stuff one expects in this type of film--namely, an abundance of exploding heads, dismembered limbs, entrails, gory, gooey flesh feasts, and horrific makeups--there's a lot more to THE DEAD than a series of shocks and gross-outs.  In fact, the journey of Murphy and Daniel sometimes feels as much like a behind-enemy-lines war movie than a horror flick, with the ever-present zombies as the occupying enemy force.  Much of what we see in the wake of the marauding ghouls resembles actual newsreel footage of war-torn Africa. 

Freeman and Oseia sell their characters with restrained, realistic performances that are never less than totally convincing.  These guys aren't super soldiers or action heroes, just a couple of fathers yearning to find their families while doing what they have to in order to survive.  Their relationship is well-developed as an initial mistrust gives way to a growing bond and concern for one another's well-being.  The script gives them several moments in which their humanity is explored, adding depth to their characters rather than simply having them go through a series of stock horror situations.

There is, however, an abundance of shivery suspense and all-out shock as they encounter the living dead at every turn.  Instead of a group of humans fending off attack from within a fortified location, THE DEAD's protagonists must make their way unprotected through open terrain from which zombies may appear in growing numbers at any moment (sort of an extended version of the gas pump scene in NOTLD).  These are the slow-moving, shuffling Romero-style ghouls instead of the track-and-field stars of later films, yet their sheer numbers and the fact that they never stop advancing lends a constant menace and suspense to their frequent appearances.

Shots of ghostly zombies flickering in and out of the truck's headlights at night are particularly eerie, as is the sight of several of them slowly closing in from all sides as Murphy and Daniel race to perform a task such as gassing up their vehicle before it's too late.  When the two men creep through an abandoned village or some dense foliage the threat of attack is always skin-crawlingly imminent, and even the act of stopping to rest and replenish themselves leaves them dangerously vulnerable and exposed.  Later in the story, the fortress-under-siege element comes into play as hordes of the living dead force their way into a military base with no escape for the terrified humans cowering within. 

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras consist of a fine commentary track by the Ford Brothers, a brief behind-the-scenes short, and a deleted scene.

The authentic African locations and extras lend an invaluable visual richness to the film that is beautifully captured by co-directors Jonathan and Howard J. Ford, who, along with their cast and crew, endured hellish conditions and near-fatal bouts of malaria to get their long-simmering screenplay on film.  The fact that THE DEAD is a hard-earned labor of love shows both in the intensity of the lead performances and in the quality of the finished product.  More than just your usual zombie flick, it's an emotionally gripping journey that will stay with you after the disquieting fadeout.


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THE DEAD -- DVD review by porfle

OUTRAGE: WAY OF THE YAKUZA -- DVD review by porfle

When the CEO of a corporation decides to downsize, you get a pink slip with your paycheck.  But when the big cheese of the Yakuzas thinks it's time to whittle down the old workforce, you're more likely to get ventilated.  In Takeshi Kitano's OUTRAGE: WAY OF THE YAKUZA (2010), you need a program to keep up with all the guys who are being forcibly retired the hard way.

The Yakuza boss known as "Mr. Chairman" looks like a Japanese version of Dennis Mitchell's neighbor Mr. Wilson, a prime example of the banality of evil who orders executions as offhandedly as one might ask you to pass the salt.  When an underling named Ikemoto is told to cold-shoulder rival family boss Murase, with whom he made a "sake pact" in prison, the resulting bad blood erupts into a domino effect of killing with a body count that would make Jason Voorhees green with envy.

This chain reaction of graphic violence has guys getting shot, beaten senseless, or maimed in just about every other scene.  In fact, every time someone walks into camera range we wonder just when and how he's going to get it and who's going to do it.  We never really get to know any of the loads of characters who pop up in the first part of the film just long enough to get whacked, and the dry, somewhat disjointed narrative doesn't become involving until well past the halfway point when it finally settles on one or two key players we can root for, relatively speaking.

Not that we really care about any of them--like one of the taglines says, they're ALL bad guys--but actor-writer-director Kitano's character of capo Otomo, a hangdog, workaday mobster who still retains a shred of honor from the old-school days, seems to have one redeeming quality, which is that he prefers to kill people according to some legitimate business strategy.  With Kitano (who I'll always think of as Sgt. Hara in MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE) giving his usual good performance, Otomo's fight to keep himself and his crew from becoming obsolete is what keeps the film from being just a string of brutal vignettes.

Otomo expects to be treated fairly by his superiors, so he's understandably miffed when they betray the hell out of him after he's brutally murdered everyone on his to-do list.  One of the most interesting things about OUTRAGE, in fact, is seeing whose dirty tricks, betrayals, and reprisals will ultimately prove most effective against everyone else in the ongoing power struggle.  Unlike GOODFELLAS, it skips the part that shows the gangsters enjoying their criminal lives before greed and paranoia turn them against each other.

With all the killing going on in this movie, it's a wonder the surviving Yakuzas have anyone left to order around.  Besides the old bang-bang, Otomo engages in some creative dentistry that will have you cringing, while his sense of humor comes to the fore when he orders someone to stick his tongue out and then cuts it off with an uppercut to the jaw.  Another impromptu execution involving a noose, an automobile, and a guy who's in the wrong place at the wrong time displays more than a little ingenuity.  Meanwhile, more conventional modes of killing and maiming occur in abundance yet their impact is lessened by our lack of emotional investment in them.

The DVD from Magnolia's Magnet label is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Japanese Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras include two making-of docs, various cast and crew interviews and Q & A's at Cannes, U.S. and international trailers and TV spots, and trailers for other Magnolia releases.

It's only in the last twenty minutes or so that the various characters and plot threads begin to gel enough for us to be fully invested in what's going on, as the web of deceit closes in around Otomo and his men and Mr. Chairman plays his final cards.  The ending is so matter-of-factly unsentimental that I found it strangely exhilarating.  I only wish that the rest of OUTRAGE: WAY OF THE YAKUZA, as superficially entertaining as it may be, was as engaging.


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OUTRAGE: WAY OF THE YAKUZA -- DVD review by porfle

THE DOUBLE -- DVD review by porfle

Sometimes you like to sit down to a long, complicated game of chess.  Other times, you just want to play a little air hockey.  Compared to the drawn-out chess games of a Le Carre' spy thriller such as TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, director Michael Brandt's THE DOUBLE (2011) is the equivalent of a few brisk rounds of air hockey--breathless and exciting, without the need to expend too many grey cells in order to appreciate it.

Playing the role of retired CIA agent Paul Sheperdson, Richard Gere shows what a deceptively subtle yet effective actor he's become over the years, especially now that he's no longer perceived mainly as an ambulatory fashion ad (although he stills look better than I do on his worst days).  He's fun to watch here, using his understated skill to fully inhabit his character without having to overdo anything.  Matching him all the way is former sitcom star Topher Grace ("That 70s Show") whose talents as a dramatic actor are fully realized as young FBI agent Ben Geary.

With the apparent reappearance of long-sought Soviet superspy "Cassius" in the USA--and his suspected assassination of a senator--Sheperdson is called back into service to resume the hunt for him while unwillingly saddled with the callow Geary as his partner.  Naturally, they form a grudging respect for each other while seeking out the elusive Cassius, with Sheperdson becoming fearful that Geary, who has a wife and two kids, is unaware of the threat their ruthless quarry poses to himself and his family. 

Their search is an exciting one which begins with a prison visit to former Russian spy "Brutus" (Stephen Moyer, "True Blood"), who then stages a frantic escape attempt, and leads a Cassius associate named Bozlovski (the imposing Tamer Hassan, KICK-ASS, FREERUNNER) whom they suspect of actually being the mysterious spy himself.  Former boxer Hassan is an imposing and very physical actor who gives Shepherdson and Geary's attempts to capture Bozlovski a generous measure of hard-hitting excitement. 

While simpler than your usual spy thriller, THE DOUBLE does have its share of big plot twists, one of which is revealed right there in the trailer.  I'm giving it away in this paragraph (if you don't want to know, skip ahead) since writers Brandt and Derek Haas originally intended for it to be known from the start that Shepherdson himself is, in fact, Cassius, and has been working as a double agent all along.  This amps up the tension between him and Geary and enriches his character by having him develop an attachment to the eager young agent and his family.  What we don't yet know, however, is why Cassius is now acting on his own and what his secret agenda is.

But there are more surprises ahead which keep the story interesting enough while the action moves things along.  The finale, which takes place in a warehouse district on the Potomac River (with Detroit standing in for Washington, D.C.), allows director Brandt to stage a good old-fashioned car chase between Gere and Hassan that's like something out of the gritty 70s.  It's a cracking good sequence (which the editors of QUANTUM OF SOLACE would do well to study) that ends in a spectacular car crash stunt before proceeding to the final good spy/bad spy showdown and a parting plot twist that'll have the less prescient among us doing a mental doubletake.

The supporting cast is top-notch, including Martin Sheen as CIA director Tom Highland and Chris Marquette in an amusing turn as an FBI office drone eager to get points by helping Geary on the case.  Odette Yustman (AND SOON THE DARKNESS, OPERATION ENDGAME) is winsome as Geary's unsuspecting wife Natalie, who helps to spark Shepherdson's humanity during a cozy family dinner.  As the unpredictable Brutus, Stephen Moyer is all raw nerves and kinetic desperation.

Brandt and Haas, who also scripted 3:10 TO YUMA, WANTED, and 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, have fashioned a Lite version of the old Cold War tales updated to modern times and adjusted to appeal to shorter attention spans.  That's not always a bad thing (remember my clever "air-hockey" metaphor), and, in this case, results in a breezier than usual dash through spy-thriller territory.  The film itself lacks that "A-list" look but is stylishly directed and nicely photographed.  John Debney's musical score benefits from the participation of Rush lead guitarist Alex Lifeson, whose own composition "Don't Look Back" graces the closing credits crawl. 

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras include trailer, behind-the-scenes featurette, and an engaging commentary track with Brandt and Haas.

Lean, fast-moving, and fun, THE DOUBLE isn't the kind of spy thriller that involves the viewer on a deeper level like one of Le Carre's torturously taut epics, nor is it anywhere near as memorable.  But it is entertaining, and sometimes that's all a movie really needs to be.



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THE DOUBLE -- DVD review by porfle

NUDE NUNS WITH BIG GUNS -- DVD review by porfle

Wanting to be a cult film so bad it hurts, NUDE NUNS WITH BIG GUNS (2010) gives its intentions away in the title but fails to be more than a mildly interesting exercise in giddy bad taste.

A lot of filmmakers post-GRINDHOUSE have been trying their hand at revisiting those dusty drive-in days of cheap, bad-but-good exploitation flicks that tried to be as extreme as possible while substituting shock and titillation for quality and production values.  Here, one thing that's meant to blow our minds is the concept of crooked priests in cahoots with bikers in Mexico's heroin trade who force strung-out nuns to make the stuff (along with having to perform other, more degrading acts).

The other thing that's meant to hook us and reel us in is the sight of an avenging nun named Sister Sarah (Asun Ortega) gearing up Rambo style and going Nun-inator on the bad guys.  (Habit optional, of course.)  Having survived a dope deal gone bad in which psychotic biker prez Chavo (David Castro) offed several of her sisters, Sarah is then inducted into the local whorehouse where she's addicted to heroin and then beaten almost to death by a horny priest (Bill Oberst, Jr.).  Nursed back to health by a sympathetic old medicine man, Sarah's drug-warped mind now believes that God has instructed her to go out and kill bad guys. 

With that set-up, all NUDE NUNS WITH BIG GUNS has to do now is live up to its moniker while reveling in graphic debauchery, poking fun at Catholicism, and dabbling in any other naughtiness it can think of.  This includes Sarah's lesbian love affair with another nun, the timid Sister Angelina (Aycil Yeltan, a cute actress who nonetheless bears a distinct resemblance to Zeppo Marx) and frequent voyeuristic visits to Chavo's strip club to check out the topless dancers. 

Lesbian motel owner Butch is seen getting it on with her girlfriend, and then with Sarah herself after the nun seduces her in order to escape capture (this scene follows the original short film on which the feature is based).  The film's blue-plate special of kink, however, seems to be rape--not only does the hapless Sister Angelina suffer the offending loins of Chavo, but his hulking stooge Kickstand has his way with a nun who appears to be in her seventies in a freaky, shocky-funny scene that had me wondering who in the hell it was supposed to appeal to and why.  And then, of course, there's the family of unsuspecting tourists who pull into Chavo's gas station for a service and--you guessed it--get raped.

There's not much story here, just enough to hang stuff like this on while we're waiting for Sister Sarah to get around to killing off some of this scum.  Unfortunately, the balls-out action scenes we're anticipating are few and far between.  It's pretty cool when Sarah executes a vile priest in a confessional or invades a heroin-making lab with guns blazing, and her scene with Butch has a certain flair, but it isn't until the last minutes of the film that we get a sustained shoot-em-up sequence with any real kick. 

It would've helped if Sister Sarah's character had been more interesting, yet we know nothing about her before the junk drives her bonkers and turns her into a remorseless killing machine.  Her drug-induced "vision from God" leaves her with no moral uncertainties to explore, and the fact that she's clearly nutzo renders the character and her subsequent crusade of vengeance rather shallow--a little more complexity here would've gone a long way.  Her appeal, basically, is based on a juxtapositon of religious imagery with wanton carnality, violence, and perversion.  It also helps that she has a great ass.

Technically, the film has a low-budget but visually creative look with a sunbaked Southwestern ambiance.  It seems to have come out of the same kit Larry Bishop used to shoot HELL RIDE, right down to the freeze-frame introductions for each character and reliance on neo-grindhouse style over substance along with various nods to Tarantino and Rodriguez. 

The direction is pretty creative at times, with heavy use of the zoom lens (at times it seems every other shot is a zoom-in) which you'll find either dynamic or irritating.  It looks like they had a ball in the editing room on this one.  The interesting score contains spaghetti western elements (as does the film) along with some old-style country songs and the usual hard rock bombast.

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras consist of the original short film and the trailer.

After starting out like a solid, slyly self-aware knock-off of the drive-in action potboilers of the 70s, NUDE NUNS WITH BIG GUNS eventually disappoints rather than fulfilling its potential the way the recent BITCH SLAP managed to do.  A film as morally twisted as this one needs to have a certain zing that makes its gleefully offensive excesses somehow perversely exhilarating.  Here, however, we're expected to simply wallow in the tawdry for awhile until a nude nun comes along to waste enough of these thoroughly unpleasant characters on our behalf to make it all stop.



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NUDE NUNS WITH BIG GUNS -- DVD review by porfle

AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 1/ AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 2 -- DVD reviews by porfle

Having been introduced to the British ITV series "Agatha Christie Poirot" through some of the later feature-length episodes, I was surprised to find the earlier seasons (circa 1989-90) of this long-running show to be faster-paced, funnier, and much lighter in tone--in general, more fun.  Not to disparage the more darkly dramatic ambience of the post-2000 ones, which are superb entertainment in their own right, but I like this lighthearted and mischievously sly side of Poirot much better.

The first ten one-hour episodes are collected in AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 1, beginning with "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" (which features a brief appearance by a young Danny Webb of ALIEN 3 fame).  Here, we're first introduced to Poirot's associate Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), a hale fellow with a boyish enthusiasm for things like automobiles and cricket.  Hastings isn't too quick on the uptake, at least not alongside a genius like Poirot, but he's good at following people, tackling escaping suspects, and serving as an appreciative audience for the vain Poirot's feats of deduction. 

Also on hand is Poirot's prim and efficient secretary Miss Lemon.  As played by Pauline Moran, she's made up to look just plain enough to render her strangely sexy, despite the fact that her character is as properly straitlaced as can be.  In Poirot's office-apartment in a magnificent old hotel complex, the three frequently engage in breezy banter that's often more fun than the mystery plots themselves.  This early incarnation of Poirot, unlike his later self, delights in playfully teasing his associates and exercising his exquisitely dry wit at their expense.

David Suchet's portrayal of the title character is, as always, absolutely impeccable.  His Poirot is an unwavering obsessive-compulsive who's fastidious, fussy, finicky, and mortified at anything that's out of place in his well-ordered world.  This, along with the sheer joy he derives from solving puzzles using his beloved "little gray cells", is what compels him to make right the wrongs that he encounters through his often desperate clients.  Another impetus is his friendly rivalry with Chief Inspector James Japp (Philip Jackson, also seen only in the early seasons of the show), a doggedly by-the-book cop who is continually baffled by Poirot's unconventional deductive skills.

"Murder in the Mews" begins with Poirot's infuriating battle with a Chinese laundry over the amount of starch in his collars and progresses to include a puzzling locked room murder made to look like a suicide.  In "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly", the parents of a small boy are warned in advance that their son is going to be kidnapped at a particular time and place, which happens despite the presence of several police and Poirot himself.  "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" concerns the suspicious deaths of two estranged brothers within a short time of each other.

"The Third Floor Flat" finds Poirot's little gray cells atrophying during a long stretch between cases, until a murder in his own hotel has him sizing up all the various suspects as only he can.  "Triangle at Rhodes" benefits from gorgeous location photography with a vacationing Poirot getting drawn into the murder by poisoning of a woman whose husband is infuriated by her infidelity with another guest.  Another vacation, this time on board a cruise ship, is marred by a "Problem at Sea" when a wealthy but thoroughly unlikable woman is found stabbed in her cabin with the door locked.  Everyone including the woman's henpecked husband seems to have a strong alibi, giving Poirot a particularly challenging mental workout. 

"The Incredible Theft" is steeped in pre-WWII intrigue as a woman suspected of being a Nazi sympathiser is accused of stealing the plans for a new fighter plane in order to pass them along to German agents.  Old movie fans should get a kick out of "The King of Clubs", as a tyrannical studio boss is murdered in his mansion and the main suspect is a popular actress with whom he's been known to be at odds.  One of the perks of this episode is the use of an old-style glass shot during a soundstage scene, while another is the appearance of a young Sean Pertwee as the brother of the accused actress (Niamh Cusack). 

Finally, "The Dream" has something of an "Avengers" vibe as a crotchety old meat-pie tycoon complains to Poirot that he keeps having a recurring dream of committing suicide in his office at a particular time.  When he actually does just that, and at the precise time of his dream, Poirot finds himself with a real puzzler.  Joely Richardson guests as the man's daughter, while Alan Howard delivers a marvelously theatrical performance as the abrasive old coot.

Each story is bathed in the nostalgic glow of an old magazine illustration, with finely-rendered production design (art deco fans will be in hog heaven) and ideal locations lending an exquisite period atmosphere to every scene.  Direction is first-rate as are the uniformly excellent guest performances.  Unlike the denser and sometimes meandering plots of the later "Poirot", these episodes are briskly uncomplicated and easy to follow in addition to featuring much delightful character interplay that will be missing (and missed) when Poirot becomes a more solitary and stern character later on.  Captain Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp in particular are the perfect uncomprehending foils for Suchet's brilliant Poirot.

The three-disc DVD set from Acorn Media is in 4:3 full screen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles, with the titles newly remastered and in the original UK broadcast order.  There are no extras.  (Also available in a two-disc Blu-Ray version.)

Continuing right where season one left off is AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 2, with nine more mysteries on three discs.  "Peril at End House" guest stars Polly Walker (PATRIOT GAMES, CLASH OF THE TITANS) as a beautiful heiress whom Poirot meets while staying at a Cornish resort.  The young woman's stories of a rash of recent life-threatening mishaps leads Poirot to believe that someone is trying to kill her, especially when a stray bullet zips through her bonnet as they're chatting by the seaside.  This story boasts some really nice twists and turns along with an appearance by Paul Geoffrey (EXCALIBUR, WUTHERING HEIGHTS). 

"The Veiled Lady" finds the portly detective helping another enchanting young lady, this time a blackmail victim imploring him to recover an incriminating letter.  A highlight of this adventure is Poirot and Hastings becoming cat burglars as they break into the blackmailer's house to conduct a search which results in their being arrested by none other than Chief Inspector Japp.  An imposing Terence Harvey of FROM HELL and PRIME SUSPECT 3 plays the formidable cad here, which seems to be his specialty. 

A foray into Chinatown to solve the murder of a Chinese businessman and the theft of his map to "The Lost Mine" leads Poirot into a winding maze of mystery.  In "The Cornish Mystery", the Belgian detective has a rude awakening when he's too late to save a woman who suspects her husband of trying to poison her.  Her tragic death fires him up big time, and woe to the killer when a fired-up Poirot aims his razor-sharp intellect at him (or her).  Freda Stanton, who played the hapless Princess Elspeth in DRAGONSLAYER, guest stars. 

Kenneth Colley, a familiar face to fans of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, plays a banker who steps out of his house into the fog one day and is never seen again in "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim."  Sharp-eyed viewers will guess the secret behind this one pretty quick but it's still fun watching it play out.  "Double Sin" is a real twister with the delivery of some priceless antiques to a potential buyer ending in theft during a bus trip.  Here, Chief Inspector Japp bets the boastful Poirot that he can't solve the mystery without leaving his house, giving Hastings a rare opportunity for some solo detective work. 

"The Adventure of the Cheap Flat" finds a lucky young couple getting a lovely apartment for a steal, unaware that they're being set up for murder.  (The wife is played by Samantha Bond, who was Moneypenny to Pierce Brosnan's 007.)  Poirot and Hastings do a little more cat burglary in this one with similarly unfortunate results, while the search for some stolen submarine plans brings in William Hootkins (Porkins in STAR WARS, Eckhardt in BATMAN) as a visiting FBI agent played in stereotypical blustery "American" style.

A crackerjack mystery ensues surrounding "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" as Poirot infuriates police with his methodical and seemingly nonsensical approach to solving the crime as the seconds tick away before a crucial international arms summit.  Finally, "The Adventure of the Western Star" is the intriguing tale of a pair of priceless diamonds owned by two women who receive letters informing them that the gems are to be stolen in order to return them to the mystical idol from which they were taken.  Sure enough, this occurs--seemingly--but Poirot suspects that there's more to the case than meets the eye, and, as usual, he's right.

The three-disc DVD set from Acorn Media is in 4:3 full screen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles, with the titles newly remastered and in the original UK broadcast order.  There are no extras.  (Also available in a two-disc Blu-Ray version.)

As with the first set, AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 2 is the kind of cozy entertainment you can snuggle up with as you would a volume of engrossing short stories on a rainy evening.  With their endlessly appealing blend of sumptuous production design, intriguing stories, and fascinating characters--not the least of which being David Suchet's masterful portrayal of the dazzling and strangely endearing Belgian detective himself--the adventures of Hercule Poirot are a feast for mystery fans. 


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AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 1/ AGATHA CHRISTIE POIROT: SERIES 2 -- DVD reviews by porfle