The Big Picture

Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice is a departure from previous Hercule Poirot adaptations, opting for a more chilling horror movie atmosphere. The film is based on Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party, which allows it to easily fit within the horror genre. While it is not a slasher movie, A Haunting in Venice is a supernatural thriller with elements of horror and a focus on fear and suspense.

In the modern movie landscape, sequels typically hew as closely to the aesthetics of their predecessors as possible. Sometimes this results in extreme scenarios like The Hangover: Part II where a follow-up is just a repeat of the original movie only moved to a new location. Studio executives like to play it safe and there’s nothing safer than just repeating what worked before. However, A Haunting in Venice, the newest Hercule Poirot feature helmed by Kenneth Branagh (who also plays the world-famous detective), has opted to eschew that convention. This feature’s marketing has emphasized a more chilling atmosphere relying on horror movie hallmarks compared to its predecessors, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.

Given that it’s such a bold departure from those earlier Branagh Poirot adaptations, not to mention how often mainstream Hollywood cinema marketing can be incredibly misleading, general moviegoers could be forgiven for wondering if this is all a ruse. Is A Haunting in Venice truly a horror movie? However, all comments from Branagh and the creative team involved in this particular motion picture seem to indicate that this marketing campaign isn’t a bait-and-switch operation. A Haunting in Venice really is planning to plop Poirot and audiences into the world of horror cinema.

Why Is ‘A Haunting in Venice’ a Horror Movie?
Image via 20th Century

The unique genre of A Haunting in Venice (compared to its predecessors) is a byproduct of the source material of these films, which were penned by Agatha Christie. A Haunting in Venice is based on the book Hallowe’en Party, a 1969 novel starring Poirot that wasn’t an especially supernatural or “frightening” text. Its main connection to the holiday of Halloween was less through ghosts and more through typical Halloween party activities like bobbing for apples. Still, it’s a Poirot adventure with the word “Halloween” in the title (thus allowing the project to inhabit the horror genre quite easily) and it’s a story that hasn’t been adapted endlessly for the silver screen like other Poirot adventures such as The A.B.C. Murders or Death on the Nile. Those qualities likely made this an enticing novel to adapt for the next Branagh Poirot adventure.

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Still, while the Haunting in Venice marketing has been quick to make this new movie appear evocative of titles like Insidious, Branagh himself has said there’s a little bit of nuance to the tone of the actual film. Those expecting Poirot to suddenly contend with a slasher movie villain will undoubtedly walk away from A Haunting in Venice disappointed, as Branagh noted that Venice is “firmly a supernatural thriller” to The Hollywood Reporter. However, Branagh wasn’t 100% committed to that label as he noted Venice is ” a return to embracing the idea of scary stories, be it thrillers, horror or some kind of genre blend. You’ll probably be a better judge of it when you see it than I am.” In other words, Branagh is leaving it up to audiences to decipher just how much A Haunting in Venice functioned or failed as a horror title.

However, Branagh has expressed a bit less ambiguity over the genre ambitions of A Haunting in Venice in other promotional materials for the feature. In an August 2023 featurette entitled “Haunting Mystery,” Branagh noted that the key to the entire plot involved “Poirot and [the audience] being scared.” Branagh also noted that the actors were unprepared for certain things on the set such as when doors would burst open or lights would go off to heighten the sense of terror in the frame, while images in this featurette and other trailers for Venice (namely Poirot obliviously standing in front of a woman drenched in water with hair in front of her face) evoking imagery from famous horror features. Even if Branagh has said in certain interviews that A Haunting in Venice’s place in the world of horror movies isn’t totally concrete, this featurette and other promotional materials for the movie suggest otherwise.

‘A Haunting in Venice’ Being a Horror Movie Makes Sense
Image via 20th Century Studios

While it’s clear A Haunting in Venice, at least in its marketing, really wants to be a horror movie, it may be a bit less apparent as to why these Poirot movies have suddenly taken such a drastic genre detour. After all, Venice’s source material isn’t all about séances, contacting ghosts, and things going bump in the night. This drastic change in aesthetics for the franchise was first teased by 20th Century Studios head Steve Asbell in March 2022, just a few weeks after Death on the Nile hit theaters. The studio head noted to The Hollywood Reporter that, despite Nile underperforming at the box office, 20th Century Studios was pursuing another Poirot adventure which would explore a very different genre than its predecessors.

The language in this interview indicates that Michael Green’s screenplay for A Haunting in Venice was being written long before the box office numbers for Nile came in, so it’s not like this project’s entire existence was dependent on how many dollars Nile made. Still, 20th Century Studios being so passionate about marketing A Haunting in Venice as something decidedly different from other Poirot movies has to be rooted in concerns over the box office prospects of another standard mystery movie. Plus, horror films have been one of the few reliable genres at the box office in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Titles ranging from Smile to Nope to Insidious: The Red Door have all done sizable business and 20th Century Studios surely loved the idea of Branagh’s Poirot films getting in on the action.

It’s also notable that Branagh is not unfamiliar with the horror genre. Though far from a veteran of the domain like George A. Romero or Jordan Peele, Branagh did direct both Dead Again and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the 1990s. These projects, among his earliest directorial efforts, likely instilled a longstanding affection for the realm of frightening films that made Branagh excited about the prospect of taking Poirot in a more chilling direction. This is just one of the endless ways A Haunting in Venice becoming a horror film makes total sense conceptually. Whether or not such a shift ends up working well in execution is just something that we will have to wait until A Haunting in Venice. Here’s to hoping this film’s characters avoid the scariest scenario that anyone could find themselves in… not having enough champagne…to fill the Nile!