A solid if not inspiring co-mingling of two Victorian legends - Sherlock
Holmes and Jack the Ripper. This seems like a fictional inevitability and
in fact a few books have been written pitting these two against one another
as well as the 1979 film Murder by Decree (which is the far better film).
There is also a video game called Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper
which I have zero knowledge of.
This one covers the true victims as best as I remember with - for me - just
the right amount of gore - some splashing blood but primarily off-screen.
Produced by a British company Compton Films, it fills the roles with some
good British actors that give the film more depth than it deserves - such
as Anthony Quayle, Robert Morley, Cecil Parker, Frank Finlay (who also played
Lestrade later on in Murder By Decree), Donald Houston (who portrays Watson
as a bit of a nitwit prig in the tradition of Nigel Bruce) and as Sherlock
Holmes, John Neville, who was in loads of film and TV but probably is best
known as Baron Munchausen in the Terry Gilliam film. And last but certainly
not least is a 31-year old Judy Dench. I don't think I have seen her in anything
that young.
This could have easily fit into the Hammer Films of the time and I felt a
bit disappointed that Peter Cushing never shows up.
