TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1989)

Sarah Maur Thorp and Frank Stallone

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1989). Director: Alan Birkinshaw. 

Harry Alan Towers had already produced two earlier versions of Agatha Christie's venerable story -- the notable 1965 version and the terrible 1974 version -- when he decided to trot it out a third time and the results are mediocre. In this version, which is faithful to the period, the assorted wrong-doers are invited on an African safari and wind up staying in a very isolated area -- a rope bridge over a chasm is destroyed -- inside large tents. The premise still casts a certain creepy spell, but otherwise this is not very memorable.

The cast of Ten Little Indians 

There are some notable performers in the cast, however: Donald Pleasence [Circus of Horrors] as the judge; Herbert Lom  of Asylum as the general (he played Dr. Armstrong in the 1974 version); Sarah Maur Thorp as Vera; and Warren Berlinger, a pleasant surprise as Mr. Blore. Brenda Vaccaro gives the same fussy performance as she did in her later years. I'm honestly not certain if Frank Stallone can even be considered a genuine actor, so his choice as the male lead is rather strange. One of the characters acknowledges a lesbian affair which was not in the novel but was picked up for a British TV mini-series many years later. The lousy score for the movie only makes matters worse. 

Verdict: Stick with the 1965 version or And Then There Were None. **1/4.