The House of Fear (1945)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (story)
Roy Chanslor (writer)

Release Date:

16 March 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

HORROR stalking its halls!

Plot:

Sherlock Holmes investigates a series of deaths at a castle with each foretold by the delivery of orange pips to the victims.

Plot Keywords:

Tattoo | Pipe Smoking | Life Insurance | Day For Night Filter | Tobacconist

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Dr. John H. Watson
Aubrey Mather	...	Bruce Alastair
Dennis Hoey	...	Inspector Lestrade
Paul Cavanagh	...	Dr. Simon Merivale
Holmes Herbert	...	Alan Cosgrave
Harry Cording	...	Captain John Simpson
Sally Shepherd	...	Mrs. Monteith
Gavin Muir	...	Mr. Chalmers
Florette Hillier	...	Alison MacGregor
David Clyde	...	Alex MacGregor

Also Known As:

Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear (UK) (short title)

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved (PCA #10243)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Quotes:

Sherlock Holmes: At the moment I suspect no one and everyone.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Woman in Green (1945)

It Does Have Great Atmosphere

A pompous Holmes and a muttering Watson investigate murders at a spooky Scottish castle. Cinematography is what makes this film at least tolerable. Shot in noirish B&W, the high contrast lighting, the resulting shadows, and some interesting camera angles combine to make for a neatly sinister atmosphere.

The problem I have with this film is the script. The best crime puzzles are those contained within a well thought out and interesting story, which coalesces around unique and memorable characters. We get to know these people, their temperaments, their quirks, their backgrounds, how they relate to each other, and so on. This mass of information, both explicit and implicit, provides a substantive basis from which viewers can deduce motives and opportunity, and make a calculated judgment as to the likely killer.

But in "House Of Fear", the script fails to tell us much about the suspects. With a DVD runtime of just 69 minutes, there's no time for character development, just enough time to spotlight Holmes and Watson, and watch them dither about. Thirty minutes into this film I really didn't care who the murderer was, because I didn't know enough about the suspects, to care.

The film's script also contains some rather glaring plot holes, especially related to murder prevention that never seems to occur to anyone, least of all the brainy Holmes.

"House Of Fear" is mostly a cinematic vehicle for Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Individual suspects are almost incidental, hardly more than props. And story plausibility is assumed to be irrelevant. Were it not for the stunning B&W photography, I doubt that I would have cared enough to finish this brief film.