Just 10 minutes into watching this film and you will not be able to say that this is not a movie above the ordinary. It fondly spoofs not only the mystery movies but also to some extent the screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's.
Tim Curry, at his most manic, dominates almost every scene and he is in nearly all of them. It must have taken a great deal of energy to make the total outrageous scenes at the end where he runs from one room to the next and deliver lines with rapid speed.
Besides Curry, there isn't really any of the other actors who stand out and it was probably intended. Even the great Christopher Lloyd is rather sedated and everybody screams on cue every 2 minutes, like it was some kind of contest to see who could do it most.
The atmosphere has an Airplane type mood to it, with flashing lightning and rain that doesn't come down but pours. Everybody was probably amused and they seem to have a rather good time, except maybe Colleen Camp who was typecast through most of the 80's as the character she plays here.
Jonathan Lynn, the director, would go on to better things like "My cousin Vinny" but this is an impressive early effort from a TV-writer (he was one of the creators of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). Even though the manic energy is funny at first it gets a bit tiresome at the end but otherwise 1 hour and a half well spent.
Tim Curry, at his most manic, dominates almost every scene and he is in nearly all of them. It must have taken a great deal of energy to make the total outrageous scenes at the end where he runs from one room to the next and deliver lines with rapid speed.
Besides Curry, there isn't really any of the other actors who stand out and it was probably intended. Even the great Christopher Lloyd is rather sedated and everybody screams on cue every 2 minutes, like it was some kind of contest to see who could do it most.
The atmosphere has an Airplane type mood to it, with flashing lightning and rain that doesn't come down but pours. Everybody was probably amused and they seem to have a rather good time, except maybe Colleen Camp who was typecast through most of the 80's as the character she plays here.
Jonathan Lynn, the director, would go on to better things like "My cousin Vinny" but this is an impressive early effort from a TV-writer (he was one of the creators of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). Even though the manic energy is funny at first it gets a bit tiresome at the end but otherwise 1 hour and a half well spent.