Pjtaylor-96-138044 A spoof of the spooky mansion murder mystery, such as Agatha Christie's 'And The There Were None' (as well as the wider 'whodunnit' genre, of course), that was made in an era when such films were often as smart as the pieces they satirised. 'Murder By Death (1976)' is genuinely funny thanks to the fact that it is so consistently clever, keeping up a mile-a-minute pace packed with as many intelligent pastiche-based jokes as possible. There are only two major issues, the first being that the ending - which is initially intentionally puzzling as plot reveal upon contradictory plot reveal are piled on to ridiculous yet hilarious effect - becomes completely confusing once an almost meta layer is introduced and a character begins to refer to the machinations of mystery novel writing with the implication that each detective has a hand in creating their own fiction, leaving the piece on a rather sour note. The second issue being that, while every character is an amalgamation of broad stereotypes meant to imitate individual archetypes of detective seen across multiple forms of media, there's a rather unfortunate Chinese character played by Peter Sellars that is clearly well-intentioned and generally fairly entertaining yet still is unconvincing and retroactively seems in poor taste. Still, the script is smart and the satire sharp enough to provide consistent and hearty laughs throughout. 7/10

grantss Five detectives and their sidekicks are invited to the house of millionaire Lionel Twain for a "dinner and murder" evening. What was thought to be a game, at a point, turns deadly serious.OK, ish, but not very engrossing. The plot seems quite basic, to the point of non-existence, on the one hand, and overly complex, and gratuitously so, on the other. Humour is mostly quite corny, though it has its moments. Good cast, though they all pretty much play stereotypical roles, roles you would expect them to play, and which they have played several times. No exceptional performances - they could do the characters in their sleep.

smithtyler1963 Amazingly funny, witty and intriguing throughout. I loved Miss Marbles and the Maid provided the funniest moment in the entire film. I loved the ending, it didn't make sense but it was still awesome!!!The characters were amazing, especially Milo Perrier and Jessica Marbles but I can't stop laughing about how amazing the character of Inspector Wang was. If you ever see this on TV, WATCH IT because it will leave you feeling so good about everything. This is probably one of the best movies of the '70s and needs more recognition, because everything about it was funny and clever.Lionel Twain was good but evil but confusing.....Aggh I don't know what to say about his character, but the butler creeped me out and cracked me up from the moment I saw him.

dougdoepke Five eminent detectives are invited to a fog-bound mansion for a sleuthing contest, presided over by a blind butler, a mute maid and a lisping mastermind. What follows are a series of goofy gags and loony deceptions.What a treat for old movie fans. Sure it's an outrageous send-up of some of the popular amateur detectives of the period. But, thanks to writer Simon and a wickedly funny cast, the movie's a real hoot. I especially like Falk's no-nonsense Sam Spade, when he stomps on everyone's civilized pretensions. Then there's Sellar's Charlie Chan who can't seem to arrange his grammar to suit the snobbish Lionel Twain (Capote). Fact is that there's no telling where the next throwaway line will come from given the all-star cast, even as the gags just keep coming. One thing for sure, production didn't have to pop for more than one or two sets. Ordinarily, that would mean a cheap, boring movie, but not here. The appeal is all in the parody and gag lines, plus seeing notable stars in improbable roles. However, pity poor Guiness (the blind butler) who thought the movie would flop and so sold his share. Instead, the funfest was a major hit and I enjoyed catching up with it again, though I could have done without the very last twist.