The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Canadian TV film 'Hound of the Baskervilles' is by no means all that great of a movie. It is pretty much on par with most other TV movies, but for different reasons. Usually the way to tell a movie made for television apart from those that received theatrical releases lies with the production values. Not so in this case. The production values, especially the atmospheric direction and good performances by Jason London, Matt Frewer and Kenneth Welsh warrant a viewing all on their own, the problems here are with the weak script. It allows little character development and the pacing is all wrong. It doesn't get around to the action until the end, and by then a good portion of the audience would have lost interest in the movie.

Good photography, good music, good acting, bad script. Not a great film, but it's worth watching once, especially if you're a fan of the character of Sherlock Holmes, or any of the actors

Not a travesty, this version of Conan-Doyle's most famous and most filmed novella opens in accordance with the printed version, with Matt Frewer as the world's first and only consulting detective, pacing around the room and dramatically throwing off hypotheses about the nature of the recent visitor who has left his walking stick behind. At that, the film limits the number of conclusions drawn by Holmes. (Eg., the breed of DOG that carried the walking stick for its master.)

All of this is attended by Kenneth Welsh as the skeptical Dr. Watson. I hate saying this because I wish all filmic preparations of the canon well. But if there is something tic-y and overripe about Frewer's portrayal of Holmes, there is something impassive and vacant about Welsh's Dr. Watson. He's barely there. Ever.

The movie follows the narrative fairly closely at first, even introducing us to Miss Laura Lyons, typist, whose role is given some importance. She's almost always deleted. The story leaves Conan-Doyle behind at the climax. He may still be struggling in one of those bottomless bogs in the Great Grimpin Mire for all we know. I won't describe it except to say that the hound isn't too terrifying.

The departures from the original narrative do some damage to the film as a whole. Too bad. Grenada TV's version, from the series with Jeremy Britt, is frankly better.

This is a fairly pleasant television movie, but nothin spectacular either.

For those familiar with Sherlock Holmes and this famous story, the ending is known from the beginning. For those who haven't read the book, the plot has some nice twists and changes along the way, before coming to the inevitable ending with Holmes saving the day.

If you like low budget murder mystery's give this one a look, but don't expect a gripping version of this story.

When i saw the promo for this i knew i had to see it. I've always liked Matt Frewer but i could not conceive of him as Sherlock Holmes. Matt Frewer as Sherlock Holmes? Come on! Maybe as inspector LeStrade but not Holmes. But, being a fan of the actor i thought i'd give it a try and i sat down eagerly to watch. Man, i was disappointed. My first thought was he had dealt a serious blow to his career or maybe he had lost it as an actor. His performance was abysmal. It reminded me of Richard Dreyfus's portrayal of Richard III in "Goodbye Girl". It was that bad. His Holmes was an effeminate smug superior clown. I am at a loss to see that they actually made more of these. I'll have to check them out to see if they improve.

Now, i admit that I am a HUGE fan of the Jeremy Brett Holmes, so take that into account.

On the positive side, the portrayal of Watson by Kenneth Walsh was fantastic. Very much in the new tradition established by David Burke and Edward Hardwicke in the Grenada version. It is nice to see Watson portrayed as a thoughtful, intelligent professional man, as a competent doctor and of strong character.

Visually the movie is decent and if i had to toll it up i'd say it was worth watching but only just.

By the way, having seen Matt Frewer in "Taken" i was reassured to see he is still the earnest and entertaining actor i believed he was.

One minor disappointment - I cringed to see the deerstalker hat make an appearance. (i don't think Brett wears one once in the Grenada versions) Why is Holmes always pictured wearing one? I don't recall that he ever wears one in the stories.

Jeremy Brett rules!

It only took a couple minutes of watching Frewer as Holmes to make me stop watching this film. Holmes is supposed to be arrogant of course, but never before have a seen a Holmes that was snide and belittling of Watson. It was too bad, because the production looked well done. But this version of Holmes was too much for me to take, and I turned it off.