The Weekend Murders

I heard of:

The Weekend Murders (1970),

and decided to watch it.

An old and very wealthy aristocrat has died and the family gathers for the reading of the will. One by one we are introduced to the relatives and quickly realize that they are very dysfunctional. The more you get to know them, the more you understand why they tend to stay away from each other. Only the demand of British propriety keeps them from being physically at each others throats. Soon after the reading of the will, family members turn up murdered, starting with the butler, prompting the tagline, “At least they knew the butler didn't do it... his was the first body they found”.

The Weekend Murders is an Italian take on an English murder mystery with comedic elements. The movie was shot in Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk, and as I was watching, I was momentarily confused. The entire movie is essentially a comedic Agatha Christie mystery, and as such we have the grand old manor, the old cars, gentlemen's straw hats, the usual trappings. But, we also have modern cars (for 1970), modern clothes and other similar trappings. It feels like they wanted to do a 20's Christie mystery but ran into problems going all the way. Instead of backing off that idea and staying in the current year, they mixed the two eras and for some reason it works. I can't explain it.

With all the murders around, the local police sergeant Thorpe (Gastone Moschin - The Godfather II, Caliber 9) calls in Scotland Yard. They send Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival) an arrogant investigator, convinced of his own brilliance, and together the two police officers investigate the crimes. This is where most of the comedy comes into play. Even though Thorpe is a clumsy heavyset man, he turns out to be a better investigator than his superior. Moschin to my surprise turns out to have some pretty good comedic chops. The Weekend Murders isn't a laugh a minute movie, but there were some pretty funny scenes.

This comedy stands in stark contrast to the murders, and the fear, grief and pain they bring. If they had made fun of the killings, I think the movie would have failed hard, but they manage to balance between the two polar opposites fairly well.

I have in my time seen a lot of movies and TV shows with the same basic premise as The Weekend Murders, starting with Agatha Christie herself all the way past Midsomer Murders to this very day. Still, I didn't manage to solve the case. To be fair, they don't give you all the facts, but I had no clue who the murder was, and I enjoy that.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, it's not a superb film by any means, but it was fun. It has appeared on some lists of Gialli movies, which I can't agree with. It is very Italian, yes, but the Giallo aspects are almost accidental. The Weekend Murders is worth watching if you like whodunits and if that's your cup of tea, have at it.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!