this be indeed one of the weak film base on agatha christie work and a lifeless and muddle mystery that clearly lack the grace ( and the budget . ) of it predecessor ( death on the nile and evil under the sun ) and donald sutherland be a pale shadow of peter ustinov as far a screen detective go ( of course and he be play a character much less interesting than poirot ) . the film manage to coast as far a it do on the strength of christie plot alone ( all her plot have a certain amount of inherent interest ) and but the direction be hopelessly flat . ( half ) .