FROM THE ORIGINAL CINEMASTERS ARCHIVE
I must say that this was certainly not a planned stop on my Octoberian adventure. This was more a product of circumstance. As a father of 2 I was looking for something I could count towards my progression of horror that was also safe for at least one of my children to watch with me. My youngest is notorious for “crapping out like an old fart” as my Uncle Greg once eloquently put it. He’s the first to doze off on the couch. My older son is quite the night owl and loves watching old movies with me. Now I will readily admit that there’s actually a wealth of movies that would have easily qualified as a juvenile enough horror adjacent flick that would have been suitable for him to watch with no worries as to questionable content. However, my notation at the onset of this endeavor was that I was going to try and watch completely new movies I had never seen. The problem I kept running into was that all of the movies I could watch, I already had. There’s still a handful that I can still watch with my kids at some point this spooky season which I’m excited about, they just wouldn’t really count in this particular venue.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
I had resigned myself that a classic film was probably what was in the cards after a handful of failed attempts yielded nothing fruitful for our late night cinema. I sifted through a number of the Universal monster movies but nothing was catching our collective eye. And then this gem came across my screen. Peter Cushing as in the role of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s intrepid detective of 221b Baker Street, London, Sherlock Holmes himself. Plus it was featuring Christopher Lee as Henry Baskerville. Certainly two legendary actors in such a film would be more than worth my while. And I was absolutely correct.
Admittedly, I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes in just about every iteration I’ve come across at this point in my life. And there are quite a few to behold. This pairing was a new one for me and the legendary actor, Peter Cushing, was phenomenal in the role. The story is one that I’ve seen in many different fashions over time as different characters have played the role and different storytellers have taken on the tale to make it their own. A secondary reason this particular film jumped out at me was because at the moment I’m also revisiting the series “Elementary” from CBS circa 2012 so I’m inundated with all things Sherlock at the moment. Thus making this film a great fit for my current viewing habits.
Honestly I’ve been noodling over this review for far too long at this point. This is a fantastic old Sherlock film. If you find yourself this spooky season looking for something off the beaten path, this one is certainly a flick to consider. I know there’s an extensive catalog of classic Hollywood monsters ahead of a gem like this so I know I’m well beyond the fringe when it comes to a recommendation here. But overall I really enjoyed stumbling upon this piece of cinematic history. So until next time, I’ll catch you on the flip side.