Exxon Mobil Masterpiece Theater: The Blackheath Poisonings
by Stuart Orme
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christine Kavanagh; Ian McNeice; Zo?? Wanamaker; Judy Parfitt; Patrick Malahide; James Faulkner; Christien Anholt; Julia St. John; Nicholas Woodeson; Ronald Fraser; Donald Sumpter; Dafydd Hywel; Ralph Nossek; Ian Bartholomew; Gabrielle Cowburn; George Anton; Danny Schiller; Basil Hoskins; Richard Strange; Andrew RobertsonDirector: Stuart Orme
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-02
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: WGBH BOSTON
Movie Reviews of Exxon Mobil Masterpiece Theater: The Blackheath Poisonings
Movie Review: Poisonous
Summary: 2 Stars
Arsenic, creepy toys, and a big gothic mansion full of people with nasty little secrets. Can't fail, right?
Wrong. Sadly the Masterpiece Theatre production "The Blackheath Poisonings" proves that, with a murky murder mystery that is half soap opera and half serial killings, it can still be boring and hideously riddled with holes. It's a leaky vessel at the best of times, but the third episode spins out of control in random and hilariously awful directions. The actors are excellent, but they've got little to work with.
The Collard and Vandervent families (two branches of the same family) all live in the same house and work in the same toy firm. What's more, Roger Vandervent (James Faulkner) is having an affair with his sensual sister-in-law Isabel (Christine Kavanaugh).
When Roger suddenly becomes ill and eventually dies -- supposedly of gastric problems -- his son Paul (Christien Anholt) starts to suspect foul play. Unfortunately Isabel's explicit love letters to Roger have been intercepted by a treacherous servant, who is using them to blackmail the young woman, who is unhappily married to the gross, dissolute George (Ian McNeice). And the spinster daughter Charlotte (Zoe Wanamaker) has reunited with a ne'er-do-well suitor from long ago.
And as Paul begins investigating his father's possible poisoning, the family's iron-willed matriarch (Judy Parfitt) dies with exactly the same horrible symptoms as Roger. And as the police learn of the nasty little secrets of the Collard family, Isabel suddenly becomes their prime suspect -- something Paul never wanted, since he's obviously madly in love with his step-aunt.
As a piece of gothic suspense, "Blackheath Poisonings" is a pretty good piece of work-- a big spooky house, lots of creepy old toys with buggy eyes, and plenty of nasty little resentments just simmering under the surface. And the writers explore some facets of Victorian society that you wouldn't normally have seen, including a drag queen bordello, illegal underground fights, and servants who take the chance to blackmail their employers. It's all deliciously soapy.
Unfortunately as a mystery, it has more holes than a croquet game. Isabel is arrested and convicted based on the flimsiest of evidence, and a crucial witness insists that she was the person he sold poison to -- which means the idiot must be blind. The longer it goes on the leakier the entire mystery becomes, until the entire plot has basically become a conspiracy and a flimsy frame-up, neither of which is even remotely plausible. It has a clever twist ending, but that's about the only good part of it.
And the third act is pure absurdity -- Paul stumbles over the murderer by drunken chance rather than by intelligence or deduction, a loathsome slimy reptile spontaneously turns into Mr. Unselfish Charity, and Isabel starts spewing vitriolic anti-God verbal abuse at a vicar when he tries to help her. Oh yes, and the climactic confrontation between Paul and the murderer is a grotesquely over-the-top affair, and it becomes funny rather than horrific.
I'll give it this -- the actors are quite excellent, especially the boyish Anholt as a young man mature beyond his years. Unfortunately all the characters except Paul are so loathsome that it's hard not to wish they wouldn't all be poisoned -- Isabel in particular is treated as a tragic heroine, but she comes across as a whiny brat who excuses cheating with a married man by whimpering sexily, "My only crime has been my nature." I wonder what her sister-in-law thought of that.
"The Blackheath Poisonings" is interesting as a nasty little gothic melodrama, but the entire plot implodes in the third act. The actors are excellent, but they can't save this mess.
Summary of Exxon Mobil Masterpiece Theater: The Blackheath Poisonings
Behind the shutters of a Victorian family's home lies a lethal potion of lust, corruption and greed.At first glance, the two toymaking families who share a spacious villa in the leafy London suburb of Blackheath appear to be the era's picture-perfect examples. But looks can be murderously deceiving.
The Collards and Vandervents are not alone in their house-they are also living with wicked secrets. Thrown together for the sake of the family business, they each harbor dangerous emotions-and equally dangerous habits. Led by the frosty hand of a diabolic matriarch, the extended family also includes a selfish, debauched son; a bitter spinster; an adulterous wife; and a sharp young man who suspects his father's sudden death wasn't caused by the hand of God, but by poison.
A police investigation reveals unseemly secrets and an illicit affair that leads to a shocking-and riveting-conclusion. The Blackheath Poisonings, based on the best-selling mystery novel by Julian Symons, and adapted by Simon Raven (Edward and Mrs. Simpson), boldly and brilliantly redefines the Victorian era.
Special DVD features include: selected cast flmographies; selected cast list; biography of host Russell Baker; a link to the Masterpiece Theatre Web site; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.
On one DVD9 discs. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 4x3 full frame.
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