Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Evil Under the Sun Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 29, 2014

Guy Hamilton's "Evil Under the Sun" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. There are no supplemental features on this Blu-ray release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Do you remember?

Note: Evil Under the Sun is part of StudioCanal's upcoming The Poirot Collection Blu-ray box set.

When a young woman is found dead in the British countryside, the famous Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov, Death on the Nile, Lola Montes) is hired by an insurance company to solve the case. He is also asked to inspect a fake diamond which a wealthy industrialist (Colin Blakely, Nijinsky, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes) wants insured for £50,000.

Soon after, the eccentric Belgian detective travels to the South of France where he meets the industrialist and discovers that some time ago he gave the original diamond to Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg, Julius Caesar, Theatre of Blood), a sophisticated but rather capricious actress with whom he fell madly in love. They met in New York and decided that she would come back to Europe with him. Before they left, he bought her the diamond from Tiffany’s. However, halfway across the Atlantic the actress changed her mind and ran off with another man - but kept the diamond. When later on they met again she returned the diamond, but when the industrialist tried to insure it he discovered that he had a fake. Having recently learned that the actress will be vacationing on a beautiful Mediterranean island, the industrialist asks Poirot to travel with him and prove that his former lover cheated him. Poirot agrees, but shortly after he arrives on the island someone kills the beautiful actress.

Completed in 1982, Guy Hamilton’s Evil Under the Sun is unquestionably the least exotic of the three films in The Poirot Collection. A good portion of the film feels like a straightforward melodrama rather an exotic period thriller full of colorful characters hiding juicy secrets. However, this is hardly a bad thing because the distracting pomposity from Murder on the Orient Express is completely eliminated.

Ustinov’s relaxed performance gives the film its identity. Instead of consistently trying to impress with intelligent remarks, most of the time Poirot looks like a curious outsider who has just as much trouble guessing the motives of the mysterious killer as the rest of the guests on the island. As the film progresses it is easy to see that he is a lot more intelligent than everyone else, but he remains a human being capable of mistakes. As a result, it never feels like one is viewing an old-fashioned period play whose characters interact with each other simply because they have to.

The mystery is resolved quickly and convincingly. Poirot gathers all of the wealthy guests and in a familiar fashion reconstructs the murder of the beautiful singer. There are a few minor twists that add some flavor to the case, but they feel right for a film in which Agatha Christie’s famous character is expected to be a few steps ahead of everyone else.

Unsurprisingly, the supporting cast is quite big, but it is not difficult to remember the different names and the possible motives that make each character a suspect. Jane Birkin and Nicholas Clay are the handsome couple Christine and Patrick Redfern. Maggie Smith is the bubbly Daphne Castle, who owns the lavish hotel on the exotic island. Sylvia Miles and James Mason are the wealthy producers Myra and Odell Gardener. Denis Quilley is Arlena’s husband, Kenneth Marshall, while a young Emily Hone is his daughter, Linda. Finally, Roddy McDowall is the eccentric critic and writer Rex Brewster.

Evil Under the Sun was lensed by British cinematographer Christopher Challis (Stanley Donen’s Arabesque, Peter Yates' The Deep).

Evil Under the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and greanted a 1080p transfer, Guy Hamilton's Evil Under the Sun arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The high-definition is the best of the three used in The Poirot Collection. It has been struck from a dated source, but the film has a solid organic look and looks quite nice when projected. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of the close-ups boast very pleasing depth, while the panoramic shots from the beautiful island consistently convey good fluidity. Contrast and sharpness levels also remain stable. Color saturation can be better, but color stability is good and there are no traces of color boosting. The best news, however, is that there are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Some extremely light noise occasionally sneaks in, but there are no serious anomalies to report in this review. Also, there are no traces of compromising sharpening adjustments. Unsurprisingly, even though it looks a bit dated at times the film has the appropriate filmic look one would expect it to have. Lastly, there are a few tiny flecks popping up here and there, but there are no large damage marks, cuts, debris, or scratches. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Evil Under the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, StudioCanal have not provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is very good. Despite the fact that the film does not have a prominent soundtrack -- though there are select sequences where music composed by the great Cole Porter and arranged and conducted by John Lanchbery is used -- there is a good range of nuanced dynamics that open up the film rather well. Overall dynamic intensity, however, is limited. The dialog is stable, free of problematic background hiss, and easy to follow. Still, I believe that optional English SDH should have been included considering the fact that some of the accents are quite thick.

Evil Under the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplemental features on this Blu-ray release.

Evil Under the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I believe that Guy Hamilton's Evil Under the Sun will appeal primarily to folks who have seen John Guillermin's Death on the Nile and enjoyed Peter Ustinov's Hercule Poirot. He is even more convincing in this film. The story is more casual, but I think that this actually helps the film because it is easier to believe that the main characters are real people. The film is included in StudioCanal's The Poirot Collection three-disc box set and looks very good in high-definition. My only complaint is that the release does not have optional English SDH subtitles. RECOMMENDED.