On M List of Movie Reviews
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The Mystery of the 13th Guest (1943)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
3/15
3/15:
Don't be deceived by the short running time of The Mystery of the 13th Guest like I was.
The film is that bad although it initially had the potential of heading down the same lane as And Then There Were None.
Somebody once said a good film must begin with a well-written screenplay; otherwise, forget about it. In the case
of The Mystery of the 13th Guest, which is directed by none other than "One-Shot" William Beaudine, the plot is
incomprehensible at best and full of swiss-cheese holes at worst.
There are too many characters, giving me a hard time to keep up with them in term of who's who and their names. The constant
stream of hokey one-liners has my head shaking. From the first moment the detective was bickering with the private investigator,
it's beginning of the end. The cops are unprofessional in terms of how they do their jobs and don't care if people are
killed.
The oddest part about the title is it fails to answer the question. There's also the indication of a mystery murder;
however, it's been anything but. It's more of a bad comedy picture that's beset with
annoying comic relief. The most hilarious part is the sight of a Michael Myers look-alike working on the electrical
switch.
All in all, The Mystery of the 13th Guest is along the lines of "you have to be shitting me."