Horrific, but this horse is well worth backing
The Pale Horse, BBC1, Sunday, 9pm
Agatha Christie adaptations, like James Bond or Batman movies, prompt a lot of opinions from purists about what they should and shouldn’t be like.
James Bond needs to have a special car with machine guns for foglights, while Batman must be a dark and gritty ninja.
Purists often forget these supposedly essential things were added to later adaptations.
The Pale Horse is quite dreadful, but I mean that in a positive way.
Death arrives in the opening scene (the main character’s wife), quickly followed by more death
(a rat in a sink) then more death (the main character’s girlfriend).
That’s not to mention the spooky imagery peppered throughout the slightly meandering tale.
From stuffed bears to Wickerman-style corn effigies, this new adaptation seems more rooted in ’70s horror than traditional Christie fare.
Yes, we did spot the reference to the carpet from The Shining on Kaya Scodelario’s kitchen wallpaper.
As an adaptation it’s likely creepier than the original, but that’s no bad thing.
The most unsettling scene came with a village parade culminating in a wicker monster being beheaded.
One for fans of 1971’s Blood On Satan’s Claw, maybe? Although I prefer to believe it’s a reference to The Masked Singer.