Various other parts of the tale are re-arranged from the usual interpretation. Holmes is revealed to have made earlier contact with Beryl Stapleton, who is shown to be a willing ally against her brother as opposed to the usual unfortunate caught up in something out of her control. Mrs Barrymore is (visually) delightfully gothic, but the most impressive thing about this film is the use of location - Dartmoor is used to its absolute best, exploiting all its wild beauty in a way that is far better than any other versions of the tale. The landscapes are not all studio-mastered to appear dark and gloomy. Indeed, many of the scenes are shot in wonderful bright sunlight, which just adds something to the fact that something incongruous and evil is afoot. The moor is not all doom and gloom. This provides a different aspect and makes the murderous exploits of Stapleton somehow more believable, in that they take place against a "normal", beautiful backdrop.

Of course, this a film best bought by completists and "Houndologists", but it is certainly different and interesting.

Max Houndroom
Review date: 2004-04-02 Rating: 6 out of 10

The best of the bunch of Frewer's 4 Holmes stories. Pretty good sets and a pretty good Watson who is lesser than the Granada one's but is still quite good with a dash of Nigel Bruce.

Frewer however is a Holmes who seems hopped up on coke with his facial expressions.

Only for completists.

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