ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Robert J. Maxwell This rather long adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel (which I haven't read) is pretty highly stylized -- one or two steps removed from Monty Python's sketch, "Race of the Upper-Class Twits." Not that there's anything stupid about these characters, except a few eccentricities. It's just that it's so awfully easy to imagine that the twits came from the kind of milieu we see here.Nine young people, just past college age, are spending a weekend at a country estate belonging to John Gielgud, in a hilarious performance as a doddering and superior Feudal Lord. The murder of one of the guests upsets him. "A stranger! One expects family to die at one's home, but a complete STRANGER?" Another guest is later shot. "You don't just go about shooting people. They don't LIKE it." Before dying, the young man mutters something about the "seven dials" and one or two other clues. After this, the plot becomes a little tangled. The Seven Dials turns out to be some secret society, but I won't go into it because medical discretion and a lack of comprehension forbids it.The location shooting and photography are superb, reminiscent of series like Sherlock Holmes and David Suchet's Poirot. The cars are spiffy antiques and so is the garb. Cheryl Campbell, as "Bundle", becomes one of those recreational detectives impelled by arrogance and curiosity. She overacts triumphantly in a perky, pop-eyes, open-mouthed way that's not at all offensive once you get used to it. Gielgud and Harry Andrews, though present, don't have that much screen time.I want to note, somewhere along the line, the disdain with which the servants treat their masters. It's all delicately expressed -- an upturned nose, a question with the contours of total disbelief, a certain quiet joy in disturbing the master in some minor way while going about their business.

TheLittleSongbird Not the best Agatha Christie adaptation, but one of the better ones. The direction could've been more taut at times, but this is a treasure for any Agatha Christie fan(I have been for almost 9 years). It is beautifully made, handsomely shot with splendid locations/settings and evocative period detail, particularly those cars. If you haven't seen the film yet and are wondering about faithfulness or lack of it, Seven Dials Mystery is very faithful(with one or two subtle changes), like the Russian version of And Then There Were None it is like the pages of the book and prose come to life. And to me it doesn't suffer from being too faithful. Seven Dials Mystery is slow in pace, but considering that Christie's mysteries take time to unfold this approach was appropriate. The length I also thought was fine. The dialogue is very good if talky, true in detail and spirit to Christie's style, and the story even with the pacing and that the second half is more suspenseful than the first is engrossing and keeps us guessing until the ending, which is a surprise. Of the acting, John Gielgud steals the show and Harry Andrews is similarly terrific. James Warrick and Cheryl Campbell(though I can see her character is going to divide viewers) bring great humour and charm to their characters. All in all, a classic Agatha Christie mystery. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Lechuguilla A secret formula, an enigmatic society, and a murder steer the plot in this TV movie, based on Christie's whodunit novel, set in the English countryside during the 1920s.Most scenes take place indoors, using what looks like theatrical sets borrowed from some TV soap opera or Broadway play. As the actors move about, the production lighting casts annoying shadows on the walls. Further, the actors tend to overact, with accompanying facial mannerisms that are exaggerated. I found the Bundle Brent character to be particularly irritating, as she darts and flutters around, in a flippant sort of way.Especially in the film's first half, the stagy sets, the overacting, the absence, for the most part, of background music, and a very talky script, all contribute to the impression that we are watching a community playhouse production.The film improves in the second half, when plot suspense finally overpowers the production flaws, as a murderer tries to manipulate a mansion full of innocents. Near the film's end, flashbacks explain the story, reveal the clues, and show us once again how Agatha Christie cleverly leads her readers down the garden path.The book was better than this film, in my opinion. But, the film is not bad, if you can overlook the production weaknesses.

fkonidaris this was a good movie based on the novel. JamesWarrick once again plays a good role in trying to solve the murder of an old pal, in which gets him caught up in a trail of international intrigue. good acting and story keep this from being out of place. I like the way this was filmed in the english countryside outside of London.