Product: Hound of the Baskervilles [VHS] (1983)
Rating: 3.0
But without the imagination Watson, there would be no horror.
A white-haired older man stands smoking a cigar by the wicket gate, checking his pocket watch. His nervous agitation is apparent with the passing of time, and his concern is not unwarranted. From the darkness there suddenly erupts a violent, snarling black hound. Sir Charles Baskerville flees into the garden-house and there his housekeeper and her husband find him sprawled on the ground, dead of a heart attack. The matter is brought to the attention of Sherlock Holmes in his London flat. Ordinarily a case which most investigators would overlook, its interest lies mainly in the story behind that night, and a legend of a mysterious hell-hound who has haunted the Baskerville family for centuries. It began several hundred years prior, when Sir Hugo Baskerville kidnapped a local girl from the parish. She escaped through an upper window and fled into the darkness. In a drunken rage, Hugo went after her, pledging that he would sell his soul to the devil to find her.The only surviving heir to the Baskerville estate is newly arrived from America. Sir Henry believes that the traditions of the estate are nonsense, and there is no such hound. Dr. Mortimer believes that Henry is placing his life in danger, and requests that Holmes intervene. Intrigued by the case but finding it not pressing enough to warrant his immediate attention, Holmes sends his accomplice Dr. Watson to Baskerville Hall. The manor has its fair share of secrets, from the strange comings and goings of the staff to the eccentricities of local neighbors. An escaped convict is loose on the moors. Gypsies are encamped nearby. Watson has become very suspicious, but his investigations only turn up further questions. Sinister characters, a dark and cold manor house, a supernatural foe, and a master detective. All the workings of the classic tale by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle weave together to produce a chilling premise and a haunting climax.Like all adaptations, the story strays in some respects to make a more interesting turn. It does have its shortcomings in being dated and melodramatic but it also has some wonderful high points, not the least of which being a haunting musical score and a truly magnificent climax on the moors. The shot of Richardson's Holmes following the murderer into the fog with a lantern held aloft is one of my favorite single frames in film. The plot deviates from the source material in sometimes absurd and other times quite clever ways, but in doing so it also permits more material for Richardson to work with -- and he does it magnificently, transforming his Holmes into a far more likable figure than many of his predecessors. It is the smaller moments I most appreciate, the subtleties of Holmes and his no-nonsense approach to life -- the cheekiness of him lifting Watson's pocket watch and the quiet menace as he untwists a poker that has been thrown at him in front of an enraged husband and places it calmly back in its proper place on the hearth. True, there are aspects I do not care for -- the film at times drips with too much gruesome imagery and I always fast-forward my way through an early rape scene on the moors, but somehow by the end I find myself quite content, appreciative of Richardson's performance, and longing to crack open Doyle once more.