Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52793 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 360 minutes

From the Back Cover
Four mysterious cases for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to solve…

The Hound of the Baskervilles - The mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville is blamed on a long-standing curse that has followed the Baskerville family for two hundred years. Enigmatic sleuth Sherlock Holmes is on the case to uncover the truth about a monstrous, supernatural hound who roams the moors, waiting to attack the latest heir to the Baskerville estate.

The Sign of Four - Once every year, exceedingly proper Englishwoman Mary Morstan receives the same anonymous package in the mail: a single pearl of extraordinary beauty and untold value. Most women would be flattered and intrigued, but for Mary it's an unnerving experience. She enlists the aid of the great and legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. The Sign of Four is engaging, deductive storytelling at its thrilling best.

The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire - Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are now up against the unnatural forces of evil as an apparent vampire killer flies loose in London's impoverished Whitechapel district. As bizarre events unfold, Holmes also finds himself questioning what he holds most dear: logic. He may be a natural when it comes to solving crimes, but without divine intervention, how can he ever hope to solve one as unnatural as this?

The Royal Scandal - The King of Bohemia is being blackmailed by legendary opera star Irene Adler, threatening to destroy his reputation with photographic proof of their illicit affair. her ransom? The king's hand in marriage. Watson believes a case of sexual blackmail is beneath the talents of Sherlock Holmes. But Holmes knows better, he knows the woman in question. Irene has much loftier ambitions, and when murder becomes part of the game, Holmes moves in on the extraordinarily cunning songbird.

Starring Matt Frewer as Sherlock Holmes and Kenneth Welsh as Dr. Watson. Hallmark Home Entertainment 2000-2002, 360 minutes.

Customer Reviews

Good Fun Versions NOT FOR PURISTS
Baker Street Regulars will have epileptic seizures over these adaptations of Holmes. They are not exact reproductions of Conan Doyle, but they are very enjoyable if you are willing to suspend belief. Each story could most accurately be said to be "suggested" by the Doyle original, than a strict version. So if you know the stories well, be prepaired for a few surprises.

Matt Frewer at first seems to be giving a a very mannered version of Holmes, almost as if he is doing a comic impression, but on closer examination he is a Sherlock who is laughing at what he considers inferior humans. It is a very different Holmes and once you get used to it, a valid impression of a person who considers that he has a superior intellect to every other person.

Keneth Welsh is an exceellent Watson. He is the perfect counterpoint to Frewer's Holmes. Some of the looks he gives Holmes are priceless.

All the casting is excellent. Canada does a great job of substituting for Victorian England.

For anyone looking for some enjoyable mysteries and puzzels, these are good stories. It is a real bargin to get 4 hour and a half productions for this price.

For Holmes purists, don't rip them apart, just forget them and watch other versions.

Entertaining, family-oriented
These four films, which originally aired in the US on the Hallmark/Odyssey Channel, look (for all intents and purposes) to be targeted at family audiences. They are bright and viewer-friendly, and hopefully have just enough to get younger viewers interested in the fascinating adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Though they have many positive attributes, they also have a few flaws. Arguably the weakest of the series is the first entry, "The Hound of the Baskervilles". It suffers from a serious lack of atmosphere, a thoroughly modern Sir Henry, a peculiar-looking Hound, and a Holmes so off-the-wall you have to look twice to make sure it's not Jim Carrey donning the deerstalker. Matt Frewer certainly has the right look, but in his debut he exaggerates Holmes's eccentric tendancies to the extreme. He tones it down considerably in the later three movies, however, and as a result his performance improves a great deal. This "Hound" benefits from an excellent Dr. Watson and suitably mysterious Barrymores, who may or may not be behind the murder that took place at Baskerville Hall.

"The Sign of Four" sticks close to the original source, except for a few details. One wishes for a stronger Mary Morstan and a more eccentric Thaddeus Sholto, but a comically antagonistic Inspector Jones more than makes up for this lack. The appearance of the Baker Street Irregulars is a treat, as is an alternate, action-packed ending. Although it deviates from the ending described by Doyle in the original novel, it makes for a far more interesting one--especially for younger viewers.

"The Royal Scandal" combines two original Conan Doyle stories, "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans" and molds them into a fairly decent 90 minutes. Of course, there is the requisite pairing of Holmes and Irene Adler in a romantic relationship, but fortunately it is less cheesily done than one might suspect. Sherlock's older brother Mycroft also appears, albeit altered to suit the plotline. This movie is also split into two halves for some reason. You get the first 30 minutes on Disc One. After that, you must switch over to Disc 2 for the last hour.

Finally, "The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire" deals with the mysterious murders of members of a religious group in the Whitechapel district. The victims all have the bite marks of a vampire, naturally prompting suspicion to fall on a supernatural force. Speculation points to a demon who has come to wreak vengeance for a misdeed committed by the group's leader. Of course, Holmes is sceptical of all things supernatural, good and evil, and sets about finding out who is behind the murders and why they are taking place. By the end, his thoughts on the unexplainable are changed by a series of events.

Overall, these films are an entertaining diversion for an evening at home with the kids or by yourself. Part of the fun is seeing if you can pick out redundancies (i.e. the director's choice to use the same minor actors in different parts, the number of times Holmes either says "My good man" or my personal fave "I don't know...yet"). The only real thing the discs lack is that there are no extras which should make up for the spent money on a DVD set containing four films, two of which were previously released on VHS. Other than that, these come highly recommended.

The 2nd Worst Holmes Effort I Have Ever Seen
I knew little of this offering, but am such a Holmes freak I had to order it. Frewer is absolutely awful, and certainly responsible for making these four movies unbearable.

These films are only slightly better than Christopher Lee's German production of "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace".

Don't be tempted by the low price. This set is not worth the price of postage. Save your money for the MPI Rathbone series.