The Hound of the Baskervilles

A film set in English moorland. There is talk of a family curse. Centuries ago a man of the Baskerville family tormented a peasant girl and was killed on the moor by a creature. Since then the men of the family die in the same way. Now the last Baskerville has been found dead and his heir, Sir Henry, is arriving from Canada. Sherlock Holmes takes the case. He stays in London and sends Watson to the hall with Sir Henry. There is much on the moor: an escaped convict, a naturalist, a farmer and a sound heard at night. What sets the film apart is its genre: a Sherlock Holmes story made this time as horror. The colour, the mist, the cave and the moor scenes are built in the studio's gothic style. Peter Cushing plays Holmes, Christopher Lee plays Sir Henry and André Morell plays Watson. Morell's Watson is not a comic assistant; he is shown as a serious and capable doctor. Terence Fisher directed. It was the first cinema adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story made in colour. An interesting combination for anyone who likes classic detective narratives and Hammer horror. For a viewer expecting a faithful adaptation, the film changes some passages and adds new ones.