✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom · 1982
Rated PG · 1h 57m
Director Guy Hamilton
Starring Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Nicholas Clay, Maggie Smith
Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
When a stage star is found strangled at a posh island resort, detective Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate. But as he soon learns, it isn’t a matter of who would want the diva dead, but of who wouldn’t. As he follows the twists and turns of clues and motives, Poirot soon discovers that everyone has an alibi...
Though director Guy Hamilton has tried to make the Christie formula more cinematic by trimming the number of characters and streamlining the plot, the picture is still rather uninteresting. Only the performances, the lovely location, and some Cole Porter tunes make it worth watching.
Director Guy Hamilton's movie is rather more effective as an advertisement for Majorca than as a thriller, and the idea of Ustinov as Poirot remains more enticing than the reality, but you could do a lot worse. Think of it as a languid cocktail party with a terrific guest list. [22 Mar 1982, p.85]
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Evil Under The Sun is not, alas, as good as Beat the Devil, but it is the best of the recent group of Christie retreads.
The New York Times by Vincent Canby
Evil Under the Sun, the latest Agatha Christie whodunit to be given the all-star screen treatment, has nothing but style, but its style goes a long way.
Please login to add films to your watchlist.