I went with Maria to see “A Haunting In Venice,” a ghostly mystery From Agatha Christie starring Branagh, who directed it, and strong support from Michelle Yeoh and Tina Fey.

I enjoyed every minute of it, and the filming of Venice and some of its haunted and gorgeous buildings was hypnotically beautiful. Branagh was terrific, although he didn’t quite capture the foppish Poirot, a sissy and obsessively fashionable murder investigator in the best Christie tradition of oddness.

This Poirit was different from the ones we are used to; he was depressed and isolated initially, holed up in a beautiful Venice mansion, and Fey, who claimed to be an old friend, shows up to draw him back to life and into a spooky and slightly horrific drama in another eerily beautiful old Venice Mansion.

Venice was the best backdrop imaginable for a Christie mystery like this; almost all of the show was in a haunted Mansion that was dark and alive with ghosts and spirits, rain and thunder, downpours, and rising waters.  At times, the house felt like Frankensteins’ laboratory.

The mystery revived Poirot, and I never once caught a clue as to who the killer was. The film is can only be seen in theaters for now.

In true Christie style, Branagh gathered the spooky and menacing suspects into one room and shocked everyone with the solution at the end. The movie was dark through 95 percent of it; we only saw sunshine at the beginning and the end. Everyone was a convincing suspect; I never came close to guessing it right.

The Venice Canal scenes were beautiful. At times, it felt like ghosts and bodies were flying everywhere. This intelligent film plays fair with the viewers and never slips over the top. Christie always treated her readers with respect.

She invented the classy British mystery.

I loved everything about this movie; it is a talking movie rather than an action one and a refreshing change to many of the more stodgy and bloody mysteries we see. Every scene was breathtakingly beautiful, and the ghosts were impressive and sometimes bone-chilling. I highly recommend this movie to anyone (it’s perfect for kids 12 and up) and a true joy.

This is Branagh’s third adaptation of an Agatha Christie  Story, I think it’s the best so far. It edges into the realm of supernatural horror, but nothing is horrific about it.