Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781417231690
Format: Color, Content/Copy-Protected CD, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 1417231696
Label: KOCH VISION
Manufacturer: KOCH VISION
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: KOCH VISION
Release Date: January 10, 2006
Running Time: 101 minutes
Sales Rank: 27858
Studio: KOCH VISION
Theatrical Release Date: July 13, 1997
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Description:
In Agatha Christie’s deepest venture into the occult, writer Mark Easterbrook is accused of murdering a priest. As he sets out to prove his innocence, he discovers that a series of deaths, seemingly from natural causes, may be connected to witchcraft and a strange trio of sisters!
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The problem isn't that it's not Christie, but that it isn't very well done. Still, there's Leslie Phillips and Michael Byrne
"The names...you'll take them to the police?" The dying woman gives the priest a list of names on a slip of paper. Not long after, Mark Easterbrook (Colin Buchanan) runs down a dark alley to assist a man being beaten. The assailant disappears. As the man dies he hands the list of names to Mark. Yes, the man is the priest. Hmmm.
The Pale Horse, or Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse, has a clever plot and occasionally good acting, It also has a muddied story line, a use of the three witches from Macbeth that teeters between silly and melodramatic, an unfulfilled hint of horror, an irrelevant red herring, too few suspects and a villain who is easily fingered.
When Mark gives the list to the police, they naturally think that Mark himself beat the priest to death. The inspector is no Morse or Dalgliesh. Think of Elmer Fudd with a working class accent and a dumb, sly nature. It's up to Mark to prove his innocence, uncover a dastardly murder business and expose a mastermind who overacts.
Mark, his girl friend Kate Mercer (Jayne Ashbourne) and Sergeant Corrigan (Andy Serkis), a young, friendly copper, eventually realize that all except one of the names are of people who have died far earlier than nature most likely intended. Eventually Mark discovers that the three eccentric old ladies who live in The Pale Horse, their ancient home that long ago had been an inn, believe themselves witches...and witches who have the power to bring death. This seems to give them great ... Read More
Rating:  - I am perplexed
I am perplexed by the poor reviews some of the other viewers have given this movie. I thought it was great fun. There was not too much blood or gore. It can be viewed by the whole family. Also, there were no indecent scenes. It was just a fun mystery that is so typical of Christie. I can honestly say it is a film I will enjoy over and over.
Rating: - Christie fans won't like it -- others might
This A&E color film is difficult to review because it's very complex, clogged with numerous sub-plots and boasts quite a laundry list of characters, some of whom look a bit like others which is always confusing. Listing the main characters up front will hopefully aid the reader and potential viewer in digesting this necessarily lengthy review:
MARK EASTERBROOK - A likeable, young sculptor who is suspected of murdering a priest.
MISS HERMIA REDCLIFFE - Aristocratic fiance of Easterbrook until she's dropped for another. She remains a friend and un-offended.
KATE MERCER - An artist and Easterbrook's new girlfriend.
DR. Z. OSBOURNE - A village physician.
FATHER PATRICK GORMAN - A priest who gets himself murdered, apparently over a scrap of note paper with a few names on it.
THYRZA GREY, SYBIL STAMFORDIS, and "BELLA" - The first two are the owners of "The Pale Horse," (est 1603), which has been converted to a country manor house. "Bella" is their cook. All three are proud to be witches, quite active in practicing their dark art. Of course, all three ladies are eccentric spinsters.
JESSIE DAVIS - A victim of an unexplained illness and good for quite a bit of money. She holds a list of people's names which she slips to Father Gorman just before expiring on her deathbed.
TILLY TUCKERTON - She would have been a wealthy heiress had she lived to age 21. But she doesn't quite make it!
FLORENCE TUCKERTON - Tilly's step-mother, a panicked woman with ... Read More
Rating: - Are we at war with England?
If we can rise above the transatlantic sniping, dispense with ad hominem finger-wagging over whose sense of syntax is lacking (on this site I've read as many contortions of the Queen's English from overseas as I have from the heartland), and put aside whether or not this version of 'The Pale Horse' ought to be called a movie, a television mystery-drama or Prince Albert in a can, I believe a crosscultural consensus can be reached.
Anyone who has read the book will agree that this interpretation takes license with the story. Its producers, while keeping the basic mystery intact, have chosen to alter some plot elements and retain others and, presumably as a way of tying in the setting with the period during which Christie's novel was published, tap the 1960s as a campy backdrop, all in an effort to make the whole affair hipper and more fun. The result is not in the same league with the BBC's top stock (the Roy Marsden P.D. James series, for instance, Alec Guinness's Smiley, or the playful adaptations of Christie's 'Seven Dials' or 'Evans'), but it is, if ultimately forgettable, eminently watchable. Some (myself included, granting it only a 2 1/2-star rating) may find TPH dull going-- the action is stilted, the dialog at times dim and the acting uneven-- but that's nothing to get up in arms about. After all, despite its flaws, it still prevails in quality, as do four out of five British productions, over the average American made-for-TV fare, not to mention the garbage coming out of ... Read More
Rating:  - Agatha Christies Pale Horse
One of the rare Christie stories that does not contain any of her 3 famous protagonists (Marple, Poirot, Tommy & Tuppence). However it is one of her most interesting tales. Well acted, it keeps you guessing all the way. An excellent translation of the original. A must for Christie fans.
Browse for similar items by category:
|
