Russians are good at adapting English detective stories.Didn't they make the best version of Agatha Christie's "Ten little N....." aka "ten little Indians" aka "and then there were none" ,the only one which followed the plot of the novel till the end."Hound" is no exception.Its unusual length is explained by the fact it was a two-part MTV work.(One should notice that Russian "ten little N..." had a running time of two hours +)Well acted ,the movie sounds English wherever it takes place,in Baker street in Sherlock's flat -the streets of London are the only flaw ,but we do not see them that much- or in the Baskerville castle or on the moor .The butler serving porridge every morning could not sound more English.The flashback concerning Hugo Baskerville receives a treatment which retains its mystery.The landscapes and the color are excellent and the subtitles allow non-Russian-speaking to follow the plot ,in case they would not know it,which is ,like for Christie's novel ,dubious for whodunit buffs.

I don't know exactly how it came to be that The Hound of the Baskervilles would be the most frequently adapted of A.C. Doyle's stories. But it is so, and after Rathbone, Cushing and Peter Cook, and two years before Ian Richardson, it is Vasili Livanov's turn to don the deerskin cap and disappear for one third of the movie.One of the reasons I find it peculiar that The Hound became the most popular filmic Holmes adaptation is that Holmes is absent for a good chunk of the running time. And while it's an engrossing murder mystery on its own, it so happens that in franchises of this sort people generally come to see the hero being a hero. And one of the flaws of this Russian adaptation is that, unlike Nigel Bruce, Vitali Solomin doesn't have the charismatic presence and weight to carry the movie while Livanov is away.Still, like its predecessors, this sixth entry in the Soviet Sherlock Holmes saga with Vasili Livanov in the titular role, is every bit as stylish, entertaining and endlessly watchable. Exchanging the baroque opulence of London for the rural atmosphere of Devonshire and benefitting from the natural beauty of real locations, The Hound builds and sustains its mystery and suspense even though the novelty of the story has been worn out by now.Excluding the natural flaw of a Sherlock Holmes movie with not enough Sherlock Holmes, the movie has been wisely split up in two parts making the 2.5 hour duration a manageable task. The murder mystery of a demonic hound terrorizing the last heir of the Baskerville family is great and from a technical perspective the movie, even though made for TV, has a lavish cinematic feel.Definitely among the handful best adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Russian TV version of the story that was filmed as part of a series and then released elsewhere as a stand alone film. For the most part an excellent adaption of the story with a real genuine chemistry and warmth between Homes and Watson that would seem to predate the Jermey Brett series. This feels the way the stories should feel. If there are any flaws in the film it would be that Henry Baskerville is not English raised in North America rather he's decidedly Russian in manner, The moors, while very ominous-possibly the most in any adaptation-are not quite England and the last "flaw" is that the film is overly faithful to the story and runs two and a half hours.They are minor flaws and should not keep you from watching one of the better Holmes films made.

If you have slightest possibility to get it and if you enjoy reading Conan Doyle, you have to get it! It's the best film about Holmes I've ever seen! Its director made no one step from the original plot and kept everything safe. You will appreciate warm irony and humor of this film. It's a masterpiece.