Home Video: 'Crooked House'

The new movie based on Agatha Christie's 1949 mystery novel "Crooked House" barely got released in theaters last fall. Maybe the studio didn't want to go up against the big-budget remake of "Murder on the Orient Express," a movie that featured Christie's popular detective Hercule Poirot.

"Crooked House" doesn't feature any of the mystery author's famous characters but it's an altogether darker and weirder tale (even by the Christie's standards). Fortunately, movie is out now on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD.

Spy-turned-private-detective Charles Hayward (Max Irons) is convinced by an ex-girlfriend (Stefanie Martini) to find her grandfather’s murderer before a Scotland Yard investigation exposes dark family secrets.

The cast is loaded: Gillian Anderson ("The X Files"), Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men"), Glenn Close ("Fatal Attraction"), Amanda Abbington ("Sherlock") and Julian Sands ("The Warlock") are all suspects members of the complicated family. Terence Stamp ("The Limey") is Inspector Taverner of the Yard. Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner ("Dark Places") decided to take the story and make a stylish British noir.

It looks fantastic and there's a wicked twist at the end, one that's maybe not as family-friendly enough for a Christmas release. Still, if you liked "Murder on the Orient Express," check this out. It's a better movie.