Product Details

• Actors: David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, Pauline Moran, David Yelland
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Acorn Media
• VHS Release Date: February 6, 2001
• Run Time: 153 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000056C0H
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,224 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The supernatural provides an eerie undertone in this trio of episodes featuring Agatha Christie's most famous detective. Poirot's secretary Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) experiments with the Ouija board and tarot cards; she even hypnotizes a murder victim's widow (with some success) in "The Underdog." And is an ancient Egyptian curse responsible for the four untimely deaths in "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb"? Poirot braves the untidy desert sand to find out. Finally, in "Yellow Iris," friends and family gather for dinner to commemorate the second anniversary of a woman's death; the atmosphere at the table is so charged one almost expects the victim to come back from the dead.

As always, the fastidious habits of Poirot (played to perfection by David Suchet) and the charming naiveté of his assistant Hastings (Hugh Fraser) add just the right touch of levity to these grim tales. For this, one must credit the scriptwriters as much as the actors--their addition of witty exchanges and subplots make Christie's stories even more delightful onscreen than on the printed page. --Larisa Lomacky Moore

From the Back Cover

Agatha Christie's diminutive, dandified detective may not be the modern model of a super hero, but he gets the job done again and again, to the delight of his millions of fans. The most-watched detective in the history of the PBS Mystery! series and a hit all over again on A&E, Poirot unleashes his "little grey cells" on the most perplexing cases and - voila! - the mystery is solved. Starring DAVID SUCHET, acclaimed as the definitive Poirot, who minces his way straight into your heart. With Hugh Fraser as Poirot's affable acolyte Captain Hastings and Pauline Moran as his versatile secretary Miss Lemon. Includes The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, The Underdog and Yellow Iris.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three thumping good entries in the Poirot series, January 11, 2001

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Agatha Christie's Poirot, Vol. 7 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The seventh set of 3 <Poirot> mysteries is now available from Acorn Media and all three are very satisfactory indeed.

"The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" starts with a wonderful mixture of old newsreel footage and newly filmed studio shots of an Egyptian tomb being excavated and the entire premise bears more than a passing similarity to the Karloff film "The Mummy." As always, a little subplot is added to the original scenario that somehow ties in thematically (and now and then dramatically). The seeming curse on all those who attended the original opening of the tomb is killing them off but in very dissimilar ways. By putting his own life in the hazard--though not very deeply, as it turns out--Poirot forces the culprit to show his hand. As with all of the episodes in this series, the production values are high.

"The Underdog" concerns British businessmen who don't mind turning a profit even if it is with Nazi Germany. The scenes at the chemical plant are imposing, the red herrings well cooked up, and the acting up to standard for these productions. If the murder scene is a bit overly crowded (even for Christie), it does give us a chance to see the crime from several points of view and the cast manages to keep things on the serious side of what is nearly a French farce of people hidden behind doors and curtains. Even Miss Lemon's abilities as a hypnotist help Poirot to gather the clues in this one.

"Yellow Iris" has Poirot caught up in a coup d'etat in Argentina and actually arrested for espionage, all of which prevents him from solving a murder at a French restaurant owned by an Italian in Buenos Aires. While his demonstration of how the first murder was done leaves one a little incredulous (are intended murder victims all such good actors on the spur of the moment?), the psychological assumption of the killer is quite clever, making one think, "Yes, it would work!"

For some reason, the box shows Poirot as he appears in an episode slated for Set 8. A little Acornian production slip up? Still, three examples of top notch little-gray-celling.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yellow Iris RULES!, June 25, 2001

By 

"face-garak" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Agatha Christie's Poirot, Vol. 7 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Okay, so it's my favorite one-hour episode, forgive me!

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb - Great! Quite different from all preceeding episodes, and while a more complex solution would have been nice, the build-up makes the episode wonderfully multi-faceted! - 4.5 stars

The Under Dog - Well, this was the under dog of this set, but it's actually pretty good. Again, the solution was just a little too simple for my taste, but I did like the "Trapped behind the curtain" bit. - 3.5 stars

Yellow Iris - It's hard to say how much I like this! Probably only the third episode in which the music really hit home with me (the other two being the Cornish Mystery and Double Sin) and the whole recreation of the murder scene, and flash back, and the murder's Pshycological moment thing were intertwined incredibly well! BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO! - 5 stars

Box Set Overall score (Not an Average) - 5 stars

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STEP OUTSIDE THE BOX WITH POIROT, December 15, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Agatha Christie's Poirot, Vol. 7 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The supernatural provides an eerie undertone in this trio of episodes featuring Agatha Christie's most famous detective. Poirot's secretary Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) experiments with the Ouija board and tarot cards; she even hypnotizes a murder victim's widow (with some success) in "The Underdog." And is an ancient Egyptian curse responsible for the four untimely deaths in "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb"? Poirot braves the untidy desert sand to find out. Finally, in "Yellow Iris," friends and family gather for dinner to commemorate the second anniversary of a woman's death; the atmosphere at the table is so charged one almost expects the victim to come back from the dead.
As always, the fastidious habits of Poirot (played to perfection by David Suchet) and the charming naiveté of his assistant Hastings (Hugh Fraser) add just the right touch of levity to these grim tales. For this, one must credit the scriptwriters as much as the actors--their addition of witty exchanges and subplots make Christie's stories even more delightful onscreen than on the printed page.

HERCULE POIROT HELPS YOU STEP OUSIDE THE BOX