The Hound of the Baskervilles

In Devon the head of the Baskerville family is found dead on the moor with terror on his face. The family is said to lie under a curse centuries old, and a giant hound is said to roam the moor. Sherlock Holmes sends Watson to Devon to protect the heir. Sidney Lanfield adapted Conan Doyle's novel and began the fourteen-film Holmes series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Rathbone's Holmes became the visual measure of the character for the next half century. This film keeps the period of the novel; the later ones moved Holmes into the Second World War. The moor was built in the studio and the fog is the real instrument of tension. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Holmes adaptations and thirties gothic atmosphere. Who it is not for: anyone wanting the pace of a modern thriller.