Sherlock Holmes - The House of Fear (1945)

A deucedly, even fiendishly, clever tale of murder and greed. Thank goodness Holmes, not Watson, is doing the deducing

"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. October 10, 2008

One of my favorites of the series.

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. February 3, 2008

Never seen on TV

This movie was one of my favorites and I didn't know it existed until I saw it online and purchased it. I don' believe they ever played this one on TV. January 25, 2008

Good but not the best

This is one of the better Rathbone and Bruce Sherlock Holmes films. A group of gentleman start receiving envelopes with orange pips in them. After each receives the envelope they then die mysteriously. It keeps you guessing right to the very end, as a number of characters appear to be likely suspects. Watson is his usual funny self and Lestrade appears to take the credit at the end and of course Rathbone as Holmes is superb.

So from a purely entertainment point of view this is first class. However, all the Rathbone/Bruce films are now available in a wonderful remastered boxed set and this is probably a better buy.
June 15, 2007

Sherlock Holmes - The House of Fear

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! February 22, 2006

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