Really bad idea to go into this thinking “I know it’s a parody, but it’ll still be a fun mystery.” Didn’t realize it was more the “fuck you” kind of parody. A stacked cast making the occasionally funny joke sandwiched between some good old fashioned Big Yikes moments. Clue did It better by leaving out all the Mr. Magoo shit. Above all, Christmas is about watching as many movies in a row with famous comedy actors doing unbelievably racist makeup characters.

racism ✔️
ableism ✔️
homophobia ✔️
me wishing it was over in the first ten minutes ✔️

35

Clue's problematic cousin - not nearly as charming or as inventive in its playful subversion of the whodunnit.

A thoroughly stupid and often funny film that doesn’t hold up (Peter Sellers’ Ching Chong yellow faced Mr Wong is jaw droppingly racist)  but does manage to provide some laugh out loud moments from its stellar cast. In particular, Maggie Smith’s line delivery of “who would want to steal a dead naked body ? …oh that’s tacky, that’s really tacky”

"I don't understand pops, was there a murder or wasn't there?"

"Yes. Killed good weekend."

finally, the movie that answers the age-old question "what if Clue was an insufferable, racist, homophobic, unfunny dumpster fire?"

The combination of a stellar ensemble cast that plays everything admirably straight and a script that understands that good parody comes from loving what you're making fun off, make Murder by Death an absolute delight to watch after years of not having seen it.

The amount of jokes in every scene is staggering. Sure, some of them miss their mark, but more often than not the language is clever and the jokes are tongue in cheek and give a great cross section of the detective genre and ridicules it to the extreme.

With such a great cast, it is tough to pick a favourite performance, but for me, Peter Falk steals and owns this film from start to finish.

Lovely stuff.

just watch Clue instead

Just a little dose of Knives Out Lite™️ in preparation for Glass Onion.

A spoof of the then-previous couple decades of whodunnits and detective noirs, Murder by Death is fun, silly, and perhaps best known for two things: the only ever acting role of the legendary Truman Capote, and an outrageously poorly aged performance by Peter Sellers (regardless of how offensive it is nowadays, though, hearing him say “two two Twain” will never not get a laugh out of me). Also featuring Sir Alec Guinness and Columbo himself, Peter Falk, among others. 

Clue did the same shtick better, but this is still quite enjoyable.

P.S. Hot damn, Maggie Smith was a smoke back in the day.

100 Greatest Mystery Movies

I did laugh, but like couldn't they get an actual Chinese man to play Wang??

Hokey, pretty fun, Murder by Death is the predecessor to Clue, Knives Out, and other comedy mysteries I love.

It’s a great concept, and it is a great cast! It’s fun to see parodies of detectives I’ve come to love over the years. The jokes unfortunately don’t always land, either being too slapstick or too confusing. It’s meant to exist as a parody of the genre in general, and while I understood that I didn’t always enjoy it.

While all performances are fun, Peter Falk delivers an oddly GREAT dramatic performance. Like I’m not sure why but he really goes for it, makes me wish he could have done some solid noirs. Gonna have to check out Columbo one of these days.

Watchable, passable, it’s pretty fascinating. If you’re into Clue, it’s worth giving a shot.