Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death

Set just before WWI, an elderly Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) and Dr. Watson (Sir John Mills) investigate two mysteries that might actually be related. One involves the murders of several homeless beggars, the other being the mysterious disappearance of a German Prince. Holmes also reacquaints himself with ‘The Woman’, AKA Irene Adler (Anne Baxter), a woman from Holmes’ past who proves to be completely inscrutable. Gordon Jackson (as a police inspector), Ray Milland (the Home Secretary) and Anton Diffring (as the shadowy Graf Udo Von Felseck) play the figures who bring Holmes’ attention to the two cases.

 

Peter Cushing is my favourite Sherlock Holmes, and this 1984 TV movie from Hammer veterans Roy Ward Baker (“Scars of Dracula”, “The Vampire Lovers”, “The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires”) and writer Anthony Hinds (“Dracula Has Risen From the Grave”, “Taste the Blood of Dracula”, “Scars of Dracula”) proved not only his final go-round in the part, but also his final TV appearance ever. He did make a couple of big screen appearances however, before his death in 1994. Cushing had previously played Holmes in Hammer’s top-notch “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in the late 50s, and then played Holmes on TV in the 60s. Here the very thin-looking 71 year-old veteran character actor plays an elderly but still brilliant Holmes. If the Christopher Lee TV movies were a touch too long, this one’s probably a bit too short. However, Cushing is pitch-perfect, and the mystery is interesting enough.

 

It’s just great to see all of these familiar faces at a later stage in their lives and careers – Cushing, Sir John Mills, Anne Baxter, Ray Milland, Gordon Jackson, and veteran villain Anton Diffring. You won’t see much of Milland, Diffring, and especially Jackson, but all three are in fine form nonetheless, though Diffring might be a tad stiff for some. Cushing’s Holmes is a bit more humble and cuddly than some might like, but like with the Christopher Lee TV movies (“Incident at Victoria Falls”, “Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady”), this is an elderly Sherlock Holmes. I had zero problems instantly accepting him in the part of the master sleuth. John Mills proves to be an excellent Watson too, even if his role is mostly confined to narrating the film. Anyone who saw her in “All About Eve” will note how apt Anne Baxter’s casting is as the inscrutable Irene Adler.

 

A nice time to be had for Holmes aficionados, with Peter Cushing a perfect elderly Holmes, and the Hammer pairing of director Baker and writer Hinds offering up a sometimes atmospheric and creepy story. Jolly good fun, if not terribly exemplary, but worth it to see Cushing in his final go-round as the master sleuth.

 

Rating: B-

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Boyka: Undisputed

Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins) is out of prison and fighting for a living, with ambitions for the ‘Most Complete Fighter’ to make a real name for himself. However, after an opponent dies during a fight, the deeply religious Boyka starts to have a crisis of conscience. He tries to make amends with the man’s widow, which eventually pits him against a local gangster (Alon Moni Aboutboul, quite good). Anything with Scott Adkins will generally get me interested, and although this series peaked with the superlative “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , this 2017 film from director Todor Chapkanov (director of the SyFy movies “Copperhead” and “Ghost Town” ) is no slouch in a series yet to deliver anything less than solid entertainment. Producer Isaac Florentine is missed in the director’s chair, but Chapkanov gives us at the very least the series’ most dramatically ambitious entry, as Adkins’ ‘most complete fighter’ Yuri Boyka continues on his journey to redemption here. In this one, the
Read more

Review: Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear

Scott Adkins is once again Casey, an American proponent of the martial art of Ninjutsu. When Casey’s pregnant Japanese wife (Mika Hijii) is rubbed out, he’s on a vengeance mission to find her killers. A friendly face, Nakabara (Kane Kosugi) turns up at the funeral, and suggests Casey come to Thailand to deal with his grief in another country. Casey initially declines, but eventually takes Nakabara up on his offer. However, his wife’s murder still haunts Casey, and with intel supplied by Nakabara, the trail eventually leads Casey to a brutal drug baron named Goro (Shun Sugata).   I was extremely disappointed with the first “Ninja” , but had heard that this 2013 sequel from director Isaac Florentine ( “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , “Undisputed III: Redemption” , “Ninja” ) was a damn near masterpiece of the martial-arts action movie genre. Having now finally gotten my hot little hands on it, I’d say the hype is a bit much, but this is unquestionably a much better film than the f
Read more