Based on the novel Halloween Party, A Haunting In Venice follows the story of an investigation underway following the murder of one of the guests at a Halloween party. Who is the killer? The story here has all the ingredients for a tense murder mystery but one thing that sets it apart is the element of horror sprinkled in its narrative. There seemed to be a conscious genre shift in the franchise that went from a leisurely afternoon watch to a tense narrative with a nail-biting premise. The screenplay standing at a shade under 100 minutes is taut and crisp and makes for an incredibly good watch, however I did feel that atleast 10 minutes could have been added to the overall runtime.

The drama does open on a rather bright note with respect to its setting. The place is the beautiful street of Venice as suggested in the title of the film, where a brightly lit day welcomes the protagonist, a detective who is now retired and out on a vacation. A strange turn of events follow after he bumps into his old writer friend who invites him to a Halloween party which is themed around a seance. The atmospheric setting changes from the bright blue skies to shades of grey with a storm brewing in the background that ticks all the boxes for a lip-smacking murder mystery that soon kicks in.

The writers had a major challenge of setting up things and introducing the main characters/suspects before rounding off the premise with a murder. And to a very large extent, the writers were successful in implementing the same. The setting itself was so well implemented that it was half the battle won, there and then. Soon, the elements of the supernatural kick in followed by a murder and that is when the mystery finally finds its voice with everyone around being a suspect. One flaw in the screenplay was that not all characters had a clear motive to carry out the crime which was committed years ago. But the underlying theme of people being disturbed with death along with the elements of the supernatural were extremely well explored, particularly the latter that accounted for atleast a couple of solid jump scares!

The mystery in itself is a little weak as it doesn’t quite paint a very clear picture of the character motivations. Yet, the setting itself is so powerful that it is able to hide some of its flaws with some indulgent conversations throughout the narrative. The stakes in the drama threaten to rise before the final act that leads to its grand reveal in a manner that seemed to be rushed. But once again, the atmospherics save the final act to an extent wherein you do enjoy the element of fear that is lurking in the corner. The conscious attempt at shifting genres was the differentiating factor in this whodunnit that does manage to impress despite its flaws.