Culture
Three masterful murder mysteries
By: Gordon Briggs
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Wake Up Dead Man is the latest installment in a series of whodunits from director Rian Johnson. His Knives Out series is packed with references to past murder mystery movies. Here are three mysteries to occupy your inner detective.
In 1973, composer Steven Sondheim and actor Anthony Perkins penned the best murder mystery you’ve probably never heard of, The Last of Sheila. After the first body hits the floor, you could enjoy the film just as a sun-baked whodunit set on the shores of the Mediterranean. However, it soon becomes clear this mystery is metafictional, and each of its suspects is based on real-life Hollywood figures. That extra layer of story forces viewers to investigate a little Hollywood history as well as the movie’s on-screen murders. Rating: ★★★1/2
From its eerie opening montage, which recalls a Lindbergh-style kidnapping, to its climactic murder bathed in blue light, Murder on the Orient Express could be the best Agatha Christie adaptation ever made. In addition to its traffic-stopping cast and wonderful lead performance by Albert Finney, what makes the film effective is how it translates this celebrated murder mystery through a very specific type of old-school Hollywood glamour. Like a warm cup of cocoa, it’s the perfect treat for a chilly winter’s afternoon. Rating: ★★★1/2
Something I always look for in a good murder mystery is an eerie location, and Name of the Rose has one hell of a setting. In addition to Sean Connery’s engaging performance as a Sherlock Holmes-style Franciscan monk, the film’s frosty medieval monastery, with its trapped doors and hidden libraries, becomes the ideal location for a mystery about a murderer who is killing in the name of God. Rating: ★★★