DVD Corner

Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace Blu-ray Review

“Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace” is a lackluster mystery.

Directed by Hammer Films veteran Terence Fisher, 1962’s “Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace” is an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story “The Valley Of Fear.” This tale finds Sherlock Holmes, Watson and Scotland Yards Inspector Cooper being caught up in a mystery involving multiple murders and missing jewels including the highly coveted golden necklace that once belonged to Cleopatra. Holmes suspects Professor Moriarty is the culprit, but has to prove it and or outthink his formidable foe.

Previously released by Severin on The Eurocrypt Of Christopher Lee box set, “Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace” gets its own stand-alone release now. Throughout cinema history there have been countless Sherlock Holmes films, but you probably haven’t heard much about this one (and for good reason). It’s a decidedly dry and odd Holmes film that doesn’t follow the plot of “The Valley Of Fear” much at all. Moreover, this particular film is a bizarre cultural mish-mash as it’s a German-French-Italian co-production that was shot in Berlin. As such, it doesn’t look or feel as British as it should. It’s as if the movie has an identity crisis. 

The most noteworthy aspect here is that the legendary Christopher Lee portrays the equally legendary pipe smoking Detective. In fact, it’s the only time he played the character on film. Lee does a wonderful job bringing the literary character to life despite sporting a distracting fake nose. Lee especially nails the character’s demeanor. Thorley Walters also deserves high praise as the bumbling Watson. His chemistry with Lee is nothing short of superb. Really, these 2 performers are the reason the movie is watchable at all.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.66:1 1080p. How does it look? One thing is for certain here, this is a beautiful restoration of the B&W film. The print was scanned in 2K from the original German negative and it looks crystal clear.

Audio Track: German and English 2.0 DTS-HD MA. How do they sound? The German track sounds solid while the English track is a bit on the soft side.

Extras:
* Trailer
* Commentary by film journalists Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw.
* “Tony Dalton Interviews Terence Fisher”- A 12 ½ minute audio interview
* “Tony Dalton On Terence Fisher”- A 27 minute video interview with Dalton talking about the cult filmmaker.

July 6, 2024 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Christopher Lee, Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace Blu-ray Review, Watson