The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988)

Why so much hype?

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Beautiful, moving film.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Easily my favorite and easily the best Sherlock Holmes interpretation. I have seen many Sherlock Holmes shows, films, etc. but this is staggeringly accurate and spot on. I love this film and it is so faithful to the source material while introducing some interesting things. The acting of course is sensational with Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke as Holmes and Watson.I highly recommend this film and this canon of Sherlock Holmes to any fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's material. Other great films/series in the same universe and with Brett and Hardwicke would be The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Masterpiece Mystery, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

The cast is uniformly excellent and Jeremy Brett was probably at his peak in this."The Hound of the Baskervilles" is among the most famous in the Holmes canon (Note that Umberto Eco even named his "medieval Friar-detective "William of Baskerville" in "The Name of the Rose!) and this version probably exceeds even the early Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce version. Mr. Bruce always played Watson as a silly ass which Edward Hardwicke never did and this more sober approach benefits the story immensely.Brett played the part of Holmes over the period of many years and famously identified with the character to the point that it probably ruined his health both physically and mentally and may have helped lead to his early death. This identification was so complete that he was really over the top in many of the later installments.But not here.Special mention must be made of Kristoffer Tabori as Sir Henry, the American heir to Baskerville Hall.Though the story and its denouement are familiar to most devotees of the Holmes canon, this TV film version can still be watched with great pleasure.

A solid interpretation of THOTB done for the superb Granada series. The foremost reasons to watch this are: Jeremy Brett, surely the definitive Holmes of his generation; Edward Hardwicke's wonderful interpretation of Dr. Watson (you can actually believe him as a doctor, unlike most portrayals of Watson as Moronic Sidekick, getting his foot stuck in a mop bucket), and some good location shooting on the moors, so the whole thing doesn't feel studio-bound. That alone ranks it level with the Rathbone version. But there's not much else to get excited about, which is a shame. The script suffers from unnecessary monkeying, the supporting cast is fairly bland, with the exception of Kristoffer Tabori, who makes a likable Sir Henry Baskerville, and is a good scene partner with Edward Hardwicke through the middle section of the film. The hound in this one is pretty lame; by now special effects should have been better. They saved money by not recreating the Sir Hugo legend and by changing the novel's ending, removing Lestrade's eleventh hour appearance and substituting Dr. Mortimer. I'd forgive that if they had spent the money on the hound, but it's basically no different than in the 1939 and 1959 versions, just a big dog, except that it glows in the dark via some kind of post-production green Ghostbusters effect in two shots, then it doesn't glow for two or three shots, then it's back to glowing in two shots. All this is during the attack on Sir Henry, so it doesn't exactly work. Still and all, it has Jeremy Brett in it, and that makes it worth a look.

This was a very fine adaptation of a great book. True it does start off slowly, like the book, and I don't think it is quite as good as 1987's Sign of Four. That was creepy, suspenseful, and featured a wonderfully understated performance from the late great John Thaw. The minor negatives aside, this is a conveniently faithful and suspenseful adaptation.It does benefit from fine camera work, wonderful scenery and costumes, and the music score was superb. And there are some genuinely creepy moments, in particular the opening and any other scene with the very scary looking Hound. It isn't all creepy though. There is a very charming ad libbing moment between Holmes and Watson, that was really nice to see.And the acting was great, especially Jeremy Brett as Holmes. Despite the fact that he was ill during production, he still gave a stellar turn as always in the role I remember him by most. Brett was a great actor, and it was a real shame when he died; I will always consider him as the definitive Holmes, with his gritty baritone and towering presence Brett was perfect as Holmes. Edward Hardwicke as Dr Watson is a really nice contrast, and their chemistry is evident here. The supporting performances were sterling, worth of note were James Faulkener and Ronald Pickup.All in all, while not as good as Sign of Four, it was a very atmospheric and faithful adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox