Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes - The House of Fear [VHS]

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"The House of Fear" is a hugely enjoyable Sherlock Holmes film, perhaps the last truly satisying entry in the 12 film Universal series (of which this is number 8, not counting the two unrelated films made by 20th Century Fox).

This is a good old fashioned haunted house mystery, the perfect companion for a dark, stormy night. There's nothing supernatural going on, only the all too mundane matter of murder, motivated by greed. There's nothing mundane about the way Holmes and Watson go about solving it though, and director Roy William Neill guides them with his usual brilliance, magically creating an ambiance of suspicion, fear, and mystery in gorgeous black-and-white. The plot resembles Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," the first film version of which was in production when "The House of Fear" was in release, (and the Holmes entry was probably an attempt to steal that film's thunder) but this film is actually superior. After all, it has Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. How can you beat that?

Movie: ***** _____ DVD Quality: ****1/2 _____ DVD Extras: N/A

A moody, atmospheric entry in the classic Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes series, featuring a corking good mystery with an intriguing "whodunit?" angle. In an old and lavish Scottish mansion, the seven bachelor members of a private club are being brutally maimed and murdered one by one; interestingly, each victim receives an envelope containing orange seeds just before his turn to die. What can it mean? It's up to Holmes and Dr. Watson, with the fumbling assistance of Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade, to unravel the complicated plot. Rathbone and Bruce are in typically fine form as the master sleuth and his faithful foil, and the supporting cast includes wonderfully deft work by Aubrey Mather and Paul Cavanagh as two of the endangered gents. On the distaff side, Sally Shepherd turns in an intriguing performance as a dour housekeeper; and veteran leading actress turned character player Doris Lloyd, always a welcome presence in any film, has a meaty unbilled supporting role as the proprietess of a local tavern. In addition to a fine plot and stellar performances, "The House of Fear" also benefits from outstanding art direction and set decorations, all of which are beautifully captured by Virgil Miller's noirish cinematography.

The MPI video release features a generally excellent video and audio transfer from a 35mm print digitally restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A couple of early scenes appear overly grainy, but the rest of the transfer is sharp and clear with pleasing contrast (and especially nice graytones in a couple of key outdoor sequences). The soundtrack is remarkably crisp and clean throughout. Overall, highly recommended, and an absolute must-see for Holmes completists.

This is one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes films. It features a gloomy old Scottish castle, a puzzling series of murders, a long list of suspects, and lots of thunder and lightning. It also has Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. What more could you ask for-a perfect movie to watch on a dark and stormy night!

This selection is one of the Best of the 14 Rathbone and Bruce made. I've seen it countless times and I enjoy it every time. Wonderful feel to the film that will never be duplicated!!!!!
I am writing this pre-review to express my Great Expectations and excitement over the upcoming DVD release of the 14 Sherlock Holmes movies made by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
For those of us who have loved and worn out our VHS versions of these films, I am sure that I speak for many of us in expressing incredible anticipation and near shock that someone has finally recognized the need to release a "restored version" of these timeless classics.
We are told that they have been "Preserved and restored in 35mm by the UCLA Film and Television Archive." This is marvelous and I have already pre-ordered Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 from MPI Home Video.
I so hope that the entire 14 movies, are ultimately released in restored condition. Especially the rarest of them, "The Scarlet Claw" which has rarely been shown on televison and only been available on VHS sporadically.
To me and many others I know, Basil Rathbone is the definative Holmes. Not just because he looks alarmingly similar -as much as is humanly possible- to Sidney Pagets drawings of Holmes from the Strand Magazine illustrations, but mostly we love Rathbone because he portrayed the same Holmes that we as readers get through the buffer of Dr. Watson explaining away not magnifying Holmes' shortcomings.
Jeremy Brett chose to amplify every negative aspect of Holmes' personality that in the written versions Watson explained away. Rathbone's Holmes has been demeaned visciously over the past years and hopefully the respect and dignity that he gave his portrayals will be seen in all their accuracy and glory with these new digitally restored releases. ... these will have to be the best quality versions of these classics ever released...so for all of us who have cursed the incomprehensibly awful releases of these films over the years...our time has almost come. Show your support for this effort by ordering a restored version of American Film Histroy.
Much Thanks to UCLA, MPI, and Whoever was ultimately responsible for the idea of doing this!!!!

Basil is at his finest! A wonderful movie to curl up on the sofa with hot tea and popcorn and just escape the real world!

1945's "The House Of Fear" is the 10th (of 14) Sherlock Holmes mysteries starring the inimitable duo of Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. John H. Watson.

This old-dark-house adventure features Holmes & Watson investigating the mysterious deaths of several members of "The Good Comrades Club".

Despite some obvious plot holes (such as the unusually high number of old geezers who would have to be dropping dead right and left in this small hamlet town in order for enough corpses to be available for the perpetrators' use) this is one of my favorite Rathbone Sherlock entries. But, to be completely fair to the plotters of this story's crime, perhaps (unlike Watson's interpretation of the events) these body snatchers were going out of town to dig up a few.

Another fun Holmes outing. Recommended highly, along with all of the other 13 Basil/Nigel teamings.

"Murder," says Sherlock Holmes to his friend, Dr. John Watson, "is an insidious thing. Once a man has dipped his fingers in blood, sooner or later he'll feel the urge to kill again."

"Good gracious me," says Watson.

High on the lip of a Scottish cliff overlooking the crashing sea sits Drearcliffe, a grim stone mansion where, says the legend, no man ever goes whole to his grave. Seven more or less elderly men live there, the members of the Good Comrades Club. The host and fellow member, the owner of Drearcliffe and a most cordial, even innocent and trusting man, is Bruce Alistair. He was quite enthusiastic when someone, he can't remember who he tells Sherlock Holmes, suggested each member of the club take out an insurance policy with all the other members listed as beneficiaries. The last man alive, of course, will be very wealthy. When one of the seven men, sitting at dinner, receives an envelope with seven orange seeds, no one thinks twice. Hours later the man is murdered, done to a crisp in a horrible automobile crash. The next night, another member of the club receives another envelope, this time with six seeds. He's found later at the base of the cliff, so mangled that only his cuff links can identify him. At this point, the insurance company calls in Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone). Soon, he and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are in Scotland and have secured invitations to stay at Drearcliffe. As gruesome death stalks the ancient house, there will be only two members of the Good Comrades Club left alive. One is the perpetually agreeable Bruce Alistair. The other is a man Holmes had encountered years earlier, a famous surgeon who was acquitted of the brutal murder of his young bride.

Despite boulders rumbling down the cliff ("Great Scott, Holmes, that was meant for us!"), a suit of armor that trembles, a moldering passageway, the entrance to which is hidden in a great, flaming fireplace, and death that is accompanied by hideous mutilation, Sherlock Holmes is not to be deterred. The secret of the deaths of the Comrades Club will amaze us, but not Holmes, at it's ruthless logic and subtle scheme.

The House of Fear runs slightly more than an hour. It sets a brisk pace that doesn't falter and turns out to be one of the better Rathbone/Bruce entries in the series. The mystery is just clever enough that I doubt too many will figure out what's up until most of the movie is over. Rathbone does his usual serious portrayal of Holmes. Bruce does his usual imitation of a buffoon. The DVD transfer is very good. The MPI Home Video releases with the UCLA Film and Television Archive restorations are the only editions to get. The numerous public domain releases look awful.

First, I want to point out that this is the copy of this film (DVD) that you want if you plan to buy it. It's the re-worked UCLA Film Lab version which was digitized from a very pristine black-and-white 35 mm print. All other copies are inferior to this one. The aspect is full-screen.

Here, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Doctor Watson (Nigel Bruce) are called in by a life insurance company to investigate suspicious policy claims. A men's club of prominent retirees, "The Good Comrades," consists of members who all live, supposedly in harmony, together on a country estate. They are dying off, apparently by accident, one at a time. Under the insurance policy conditions, the pay-off is to the surviving peer members!

The theme here is that, "No man goes whole to his grave". The various deaths involve dubious body mutilations to a degree which makes personal identification difficult. Inspector Lestrade gets involved (Dennis Hoey) and it takes Holmes to steer him in the right direction to solve this head scratcher of a crime.

This film generates great atmosphere and the sets and locations are just phenomenal. The story is similarly excellent. I have nothing but good things to say about this fine old film. If you like older black-and-white mysteries, don't pass it by.

Adapted from the Conan Doyle novel 'The Five Orange Pips' this movie opens with Holmes and Watson being visited at Baker Street by an insurance agent who relates to the crime solving duo the strange occurances at a seaside manor house. Meeting there is a group of men who have entered into life insurance policies naming the others as their beneficiaries.
Now the men are all being murdered one by one, immediately after receiving envelopes filled with orange pips. This strange factor picques Holmes' interest and he sets off with Watson to visit Scotland and solve the mystery.
Rathbone is in fine form here and the scenes at the manor contain some of the most atmospheric moments in the series. This is highly recommended for fans of the worlds most famous consulting detective

"Murder's an insidious thing, Watson. Once a man's dipped his finger in blood, he'll feel the urge to kill again." -- Sherlock Holmes


This terrific entry in the "B" series plays out much like Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. Rene Clair's film adaptation of that classic, titled And Then There Were None, has a darkly comic touch, however. This adaptation of a Conan Doyle story from director Neill and screenwriter Roy Chanslor has a foreboding atmosphere surrounding the mystery. In the Christie film, the viewer can't wait to see who gets it next. In Sherlock Homes and The House of Fear we are kept enthralled by the mystery of who and why members of The Good Comrades are being murdered, tense for the moment Holmes will be able to prevent any of the deaths, if he can at all.

High on a Scottish cliff stands a mansion where members of The Good Comrades gather. When the first envelope is delivered to a member containing orange pips, an omen of death, it is ignored. But when each man who receives one suddenly meets his end, the insurance company paying out on their deaths ask the great Sherlock Holmes for help. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, the only real Holmes and Watson, travel to the windy, rainy Scottish coast for a perplexing mystery.

The Comrades keep getting envelopes with pips, and keep meeting their doom, despite the presence of the world's greatest detective. Holmes believes a cold, calculating and ruthless intelligence is behind it all. Poison needles and dynamite explosions make for a tense and bewildering case unlike any Holmes has tackled. Dennis Hoey returns as Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, arriving just moments after someone tries to kill a sleeping Watson. Lestrade, as usual, is clueless, and even takes a ribbing from Watson: "Stick by us old man. We'll make a detective of you yet!"

Bruce has some comic moments left alone in a rainy house and there is some fun when an old smuggler's passage is discovered by Holmes as he gets closer to figuring things out. Just a fantastic entry in this series, fun and suspenseful, with just the right mix of humor. An splendid mystery.