Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

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

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

bensonmum2 While recovering from injuries received during the War, Lieutenant Hastings is invited to visit an old friend in his mother's, Mrs. Inglethorp, country estate. The household is in a state because of the mother's recent marriage to a strange man 20 years her junior. One night, Mrs. Inglethorp is taken ill and dies. The cause of death - poisoning. The family suspects the new husband, but he wasn't at home on the night of the murder. Looking for help in solving the mystery, Lieutenant Hastings calls on a war refugee from Belgium living in the village. He's an odd bird, but a great detective named Hercule Poirot.The Mysterious Affair at Styles isn't one of the great Christie works, but it's fun enough with interesting characters and a "nice" murder. I say it's not great because there are two things that really bug me (at least in this presentation of the story). First, the murderer makes the most illogical mistake imaginable. Why did he leave the incriminating piece of evidence where it could be found? Second, Poirot makes an awful lot of suppositions that just happen to be right. He's more clairvoyant here than usual.But none of that matters much when the rest of the episode is so good and fun. It's a real hoot watching Poirot march his fellow Belgian refugees through the streets of a small English village. They look like penguins on parade. It's also a treat to see Hastings and Poirot renew an old friendship. It's a really nice moment. And, it's also a joy to watch Japp and Poirot working together on their first English case. The only thing missing was Miss Lemon. I only wish they would have filmed The Mysterious Affair at Styles first. It would have nicely set-up everything to follow. For someone new to the series, I'd suggest going straight to S3E1 to start. Overall, a 7/10 from me.

kaberi-893-642316 This was the first mystery story that Agatha Christie ever wrote. Reasonably faithfully depicted here, it is an entertaining if straightforward retelling of what happened when Captain Hastings, recovering from a war wound in 1917, finds himself visiting the estate of an old friend in the village of Styles St. Mary. The same village where, coincidentally, Hastings's acquaintance Poirot has been living for the last 4 years, along with 7 other Belgian war refugees. When Poirot's benefactor, Mrs. Inglethorp dies mysteriously one night, Poirot and Hastings work together to investigate the matter.The story is helped along by some minor touches of humor, especially the scene where a young woman appeals to Hastings for advice, and Hastings impulsively proposes marriage to her. This story, outside of simply being the first Christie novel, is also noted for having her first rather shocking final revelation, one that here is so shocking that the final confession "All right, we love each other!" looks really too ridiculous to be believed. But overall, the period detail is wonderful to behold, and Suchet and company as usual do an excellent job.

Robert J. Maxwell Unlike the other episodes I've seen, this one is set during the Great War, after one of the battles at Ypres. (Kids, that's pronounced EEP-rah. Well, kind of. The Great War ran its course from 1914 to 1918 -- AD -- and was fought before we learned to start numbering them. The result of the battle was a pile of dead and mangled bodies on both sides. PS: The English were fighting the Germans.) It's surprising to see characters waltzing around in wardrobe a la mode 1915. Many of the ladies had long flowing dresses that swept the floor when they walked. They wore high lace collars and often their hair was swept up on their heads in a configuration resembling that of a soccer ball or some kind of Gugelhupf.The costumes, cars, and many props are of the period. Some props must have been carried over from the episodes set in the 1930s -- books and knick knacks -- but the producers must have dug deep to come up with so much new in the way of forms. I'd always thought of the BBC's Poirot productions as having some kind of massive chest of 1930s objects into which they dug for props and clothes. Now I have to add a massive chest for their period romances and even for their adaptations of Dickens. They had to put the 1935 bus away in the garage and dust off the 1914 model, for instance.I'd like to add that wardrobe and props tend to be precise about these things. I had a prominent role in "The Road To Wellville." You can see the back of my head in the scene in which the kid farts in church. That scene was set in 1895. Another scene was set ten years later, and they had different sets of SHOES for the extras, depending on the date.As far as this movie is concerned, I rather enjoyed it. True, I got some of the characters and their names mixed up. I usually do. These ensemble mysteries could actually benefit from the use of familiar faces, as Albert Finney' "Murder on the Orient Express" did. However, Poirot's climactic explanation and the dénouement wrapped things up nicely. There isn't really a dull moment.

nvserv David Suchet is the quintessential Hercules Poirot, and it was a joy to see his portrayal of the famed detective's first case. After a slow start, the "funny little man" makes his first appearance on the screen. Of course, the character as portrayed by Suchet was still being developed, so there are a few minor differences, but nothing that would be annoying.As was mentioned before, the period sets, clothing and props were delightful. The mannerisms of the upper crust are always fun to watch in Poirot, as they seem completely oblivious to the real world.I highly recommend this program to fans of the series.