Hound of the Baskervilles

Released the same year Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were paired up in The Mummy, Hammer Films' The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) proved the company could do more than just reboot creaky Universal properties and shock audiences with day-glo gore. In fact, up until the recent BBC productions featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Cushing's portrayal was considered by many to be the definitive representation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's quirky detective, the one-and-only Sherlock Holmes. And Doyle's quasi-supernatural story fits exceedingly well within Hammer's monster movie pantheon.

Kicking off with a typically horrific prologue (one that bears close resemblance to The Curse of the Werewolf filmed two years later), the infamous Sir Hugo Baskerville is attacked and killed by a mysterious unseen beast, passing on a family curse that ensures future generations will meet the same fate. Enter the only surviving heir, Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee), who has inherited the estate and shares his relative's noble pomposity and weakness for peasant women.

Holmes (Peter Cushing) and Doctor Watson (Andre Morell) are hired by the estate's physician to look after Sir Henry's well being and determine if the curse has any validity. A series of threats against his client's life (including the old tarantula in the boot trick) soon convinces Holmes that someone is certainly out to commit bodily harm. But is the legendary hound truly prowling the moors in search of revenge? Or is the culprit instead of the two-legged variety?

Directed with steady hand by Hammer regular Terence Fisher, The Hound of the Baskervilles looks just as colorful and detailed as the rest of the studio's dependable output of drawing-room horror. Only this time around the actors don't play second fiddle to a vampire, werewolf or stitched-together creation. And as good as Cushing's performance is - his finicky manner and fussbudget style are a perfect match for an unhinged genius like Holmes - it's most refreshing to see him finally interact with Christopher Lee sans fangs or full-body makeup. The duo reunited for dozens of films throughout their careers but never had material this good to work with.

As one might expect, the emphasis is on the mystery rather than the scares. But Fisher does an excellent job keeping the central menace out of sight and stacking the clues like a wobbly game of Jenga, just in time for Holmes to pull out the essential piece while the tower miraculously remains standing. The film provides Hammer fans with the best of both worlds...and Holmes fans a near-perfect page to screen experience.

Twilight Time's 3000-copy limited edition blu-ray is one of the best hi-def Hammer titles yet, a niche collector's market that has been seriously neglected. Special features include the standard isolated music & effects track, two audio commentaries (with dueling film historians), an Actor's Notebook featuring comments from Christopher Lee along with excerpts of him reading from the original novel (both pulled from the 2002 DVD), an interview with the designer of the surprisingly effective mask used to disguise the Hound, liner notes and the original theatrical trailer. The game is afoot, indeed!