CLUE (1985)

CLUE (1985)

Tagline : It's Not Just A Game Anymore.

(Mystery, Comedy) [PG] 

Yep. Two corpses. Everything's fine.

I was telling Jenn, that one of the reasons I probably like mystery movies is because of my grandma. She probably watched ever episode of “Murder She Wrote” ten times over. With CLUE though, I actually saw this one because of the board game. My mom took me to see this in the theaters and we actually tried seeing it several times to see if we could catch a different ending from the one we’d seen. That didn’t work. Yes, they actually did release this movie in theaters with 3 different endings, but which ending you saw depended on which city or region you watched the movie in. Now if you buy the DVD or BLU-RAY, they just give you all 3 endings, or perhaps let you pick the version you want to watch. 

In this one seven seemingly random strangers, along with a maid and a butler named Wadsworth (played by Tim Curry) all end up involved in trying to find a murderer in a mansion called “Hill House” before they themselves end up dead. They keep referring to this mansion as being ugly, but to be honest, you throw some paint on that sucker and it’s good to go. As the introductions and story unfold, we find out Professor Plum (played by Christopher Lloyd from BACK TO THE FUTURE) works in Washington, D.C., Colonel Mustard (played by Martin Mull), Miss Scarlet (played by Lesley Ann Warren), Yvette (played by Colleen Camp), Mrs. White (played by Madeline Khan), Mr. Boddy (played by Lee Ving), Wadsworth (like I mentioned, is played Tim Curry) , Mrs. Peacock (played by Eileen Brennan) , Mr. Green (played  by Michael McKean) all have one or more things that connect them. As the night wears on each is more suspicious of the other until it’s almost hard to not stop laughing at how out of control everything gets. When the dust settles, who did the murder(s), where, and with what? 

Overall the performances in this movie are outstanding and everything is timed expertly. I love the setting and even the touch of having people show up at Hill House (which is rather secluded) while this is all unfolding. One little tidbit : A singing telegram shows up out of nowhere played by Jane Wiedlin. Jane is known for her soundtrack work and composing, but she also did the voice of “Dusk” from the HEX Girls on SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED. We are given a reason they showed up in the finale which helps put a bow on this thing. 

CLUE has an almost whimsical nature to it that might not be a hit with today’s viewers and some of the language definitely isn’t PC. Overall if you can tolerate movies that are largely dialog driven, CLUE is both satisfying and delightful. The atmosphere kind of remind me of PRIVATE EYES (1980), only it’s not as much of a full blown comedy and there is less action in CLUE. 

Because of the stand out performances I give CLUE a 4 out of 7. I also have fond memories of playing the game which kind of help my fondness of the movie. I don’t think CLUE is mind-blowing, but it does have a better ending(s), and is far more entertaining than MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (regardless of which version you watch). 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

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