Movie Review- Murder by Death

I've always enjoyed mystery and detective-based movies, and this one is a treat to watch. The script is wonderful, from the dialog, to the plot, everything about it works. The main characters are all different stereotypes of detectives, (The San Francisco gumshoe, the Belgian Inspector Clouseau type, etc.) but it's played for laughs, and it works quite well here. Peter Sellers is particularly funny as Sidney Wang, the Charlie Chan spoof. The plot revolves around 5 world-famous detectives and their accomplices who are invited to "A Dinner and a Murder". It's later revealed to the detectives that there will be a murder at midnight, and that whoever solves it will win one million dollars. The pacing here is great, as the actual murder doesn't occur until two-thirds of the way into the movie, and there's a lot of room to build up suspects as to who the murderer will be, before the murder has even happened. The humor here is very fitting with the overall tone of the movie, very well-written and witty humor, laced with the occasional sight gag at the hands of the blind butler played by Alec Guinness. My only complaint is that the ending wasn't as clear as it could have been, but I get the feeling that was an intentional parody of mystery movies with confusing endings. Overall, a very funny and enjoyable film. Highly recommended and it would make a great double-feature with Clue: The Movie. 5/5

IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074937/