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The Hound of the Baskervilles
Canada 2000
produced by
Irene Litinsky, Steven Hewitt (executive), Michael Prupas (executive) for Muse Entertainment Enterprises/CTV, Hallmark Entertainment
directed by Rodney Gibbons
starring Matt Frewer, Kenneth Welsh, Jason London, Emma Campbell, Gordon Masten, Robin Wilcock, Arthur Holden, Leni Parker, Ben Gauthier, John Dunn-Hill, Joe Cobden, Jason Cavalier, Linda E. Smith, Barry Baldaro, Nathalie Girard, Greg Kramer, Rob Thomas Eliot
screenplay by Joe Wiesenfeld, based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, music by Marc Ouellette
TV-movie
Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer), Hound of the Baskervilles
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer) and Dr. Watson (Kenneth Welsh) are
visited by country doctor Mortimer (Gordon Masten), who tells them that
one of his friends, Sir Charles Baskerville (Barry Baldaro) has died, and
while his death was ruled from heart failure, Dr. Mortimer figures he
might have died of fright, tieing in with an old family legend about a
devil hound taking the men of the Baskerville family. Of course, Holmes at
first thinks it's hogwash, until he learns he and Watson are to play
bodyguards to the last heir of the Baskervilles, Sir Henry (Jason London),
and Sir Henry, while at the hotel, had one of his boots stolen. So he
sends Watson with Sir Henry to the Baskerville estate, with a stern
warning for them to stay away from the surrounding moors, especially at
night. Once in the countryside, Watson makes some inquiries and learns
that Sir Charles' being outside where he died was no coincidence, as an
old flame of his (Linda E. Smith) asked him to wait for her - while Sir
Henry meets and falls in love with Beryl Stapleton (Emma Campbell), who
lives by the moors with her brother (Robin Wilcock), and while she
obviously has feelings for him and tries to warn him again and again to
stay away from the moors, her brother doesn't really agree on them being
together. The servant couple (Arthur Holden, Leni Parker) in the
baskerville household seem to act mighty weird, and eventually Watson
finds out that they feed a man in the moors, who eventually turns out to
be an escaped convict, Seldon (Jason Cavalier) - and also Mrs. Barrymore's
brother. Watson and Sir Henry agree to help the Barrymores make good
Seldon's escape to Australia - but then he's thrown off a cliff by what
appears to be a hellhound. Holmes writes to Watson and Sir Henry to
return to London the very next morning, and upon learning that, Beryl asks
Sir Henry over for a farewell meeting, but her brother interferes and
chases Sir Henry away. Then he releases a hound that's made up like a
hellhound. Watson, who watches from a safe distance, tries to shoot the
hound but gets into a fight with Stapleton. The hound attacks Sir Henry
and maims him quite a bit before ... Holmes emerges from the shadows and
shoots the hound. Stapleton makes a run for it, but is ultimately killed
by the hound and the two disappear into the moor. Turns out Stapleton was
a secret heir of the Baskervilles who would have inherited was Sir Henry
out of the way, and Beryl was not his sister but his wife, who despite her
reservations saw herself forced to help her husband - but Holmes lets her
slip as she had tried to warn Sir Henry more than once ... A
pretty ok adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel that moves things along
at a steady pace while remaining fairly true to the source material and
doesn't get lost in subplots. Also, it's one of the few adaptations that
actually criticizes Holmes' ruthlessness when it comes to solving the
case. Matt Frewer hams it up royally as Holmes, which at times seems to
much, but mostly he hits the right notes, and also he adds some humour to
the role which seems pretty much in place. That said, he's really not in
the film all that much, even less than the novel would suggest. But
Kenneth Welsh makes a good Watson who's actually showing some independent
initiative for a change. Direction-wise the film is dynamic enough to
breathe some new air into the oft-told tale, but where the movie lacks is
in a properly creepy atmosphere, owed largely to the fact that the moors
look like anything but, so really lack any menacing qualities - in fact
the whole countryside the film's set in looks far too lovely to suggest
much threat. Still, the whole thing is entirely watchable, if for sure no
big revelation.
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