There are those who say that the Rathbone/Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films began to run out of steam as the years passed. Well, this is definitely NOT the case with THE HOUSE OF FEAR, an extremely atmospheric and entertaining variant on the old Agatha Christie story TEN LITTLE INDIANS. This is a dark thriller with plenty of deadly booby traps and moments with our heroes in peril. It also has surprisingly high macabre undertones, with talk of 'mutilated corpses' and 'torsos' with arms, legs, and heads missing. Saying that, it's still as light-hearted as ever, with the mystery and thriller aspects of the film nicely mixed together with the plentiful comic relief.There is plenty of good acting from an accomplished cast who fit their roles well, from the gruff bearded sailor to the amicable, demented old codger. Rathbone and Bruce are as strong a pairing as ever, and their double act is by now firmly cemented and all the stronger for it. Bruce once again stays in the background to Rathbone's Holmes, yet gives a perfectly judged turn. Rathbone himself is dashing, intelligent, and brooding, all that he should be. Thankfully, the great Dennis Hoey is also in tow for extra comic relief, bumbling around and getting the facts wrong as usual. A lot of the humour could be considered naïve - and perhaps childish - these days, such as a scene where Bruce mistakenly converses with an owl which keeps saying "who?", but it's still pretty funny.Like all good mysteries, this keeps you guessing as to the identity of the murderer right up to the end. As Rathbone comments, there are actually TOO many clues and suspects this time around, so it's difficult to work out who the killer is. By the time the ending comes (amid some spooky, clichéd wandering around a dark house with a storm outside) there's a twist in the tale which is good enough to rival the likes of THE SIXTH SENSE. THE HOUSE OF FEAR comes as highly recommended, and is in fact one of the best of the Rathbone/Holmes canon.

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce once again give sterling performances as legendary crime fighting duo Holmes and Watson, but the real star of this particular yarn is its marvellous location, the aptly named Drearcliff House, a sprawling Scottish cliff-top mansion. It is within the sturdy walls, shadowy corridors, magnificent oak panelled rooms and dingy secret passageways of this wonderfully atmospheric building that Holmes attempts to unravel the case of the 'The Good Comrades', the systematic murder of a group of friends who have each taken out a life insurance policy, naming the others as beneficiaries.Ceaslessly battered by the elements, windows lashed by heavy rain, the wind howling outside, lightning and thunder crashing above, Drearcliff is the archetypal 'old dark house', a labyrinthine structure offering countless hiding places and escape routes for any quick-witted felon. Its extensive grounds also offer ample opportunity for nefarious activity: a craggy cliff overlooking a lonely beach (perfect for pushing large boulders from), a system of caves, and an untended garden with a shed full of dynamite. With such a cool setting, so many suspects to choose from, umpteen 'murders' and red herrings aplenty, this is another fine adventure for the world's most distinguished sleuth.

***SPOILERS*** Things got a bit suspicious to insurance salesman Chambers, Gavin Muir, when two members of the exclusive "Good Comrades Club" were killed with their bodies burned and mutilated beyond recognition. That's when they received mysterious letters containing seven in the case of Ralph King, Richard Alexander, and six in the case of Stanley Reaburn, Cyril Delevanti, orange pits. With King & Reaburn being members of the "Good Comrades Club" each of their insurance policies, being 1000,000 pound sterling, was to be split up among the surviving five club members.Chamers getting his good friend Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone, together with his constant companion Dotcor Watson, Nigel Bruce, to investigate the two mysterious deaths other members of the club began to have the same kind of deadly accidents! With their remains completely obliterated to the point where they were left totally unrecognizable! What at first seem to be obvious in the "Good Comrades Club" members deaths is that one of them is staging their "accidents" so in being the sole survivor of the group he'll collect all the insurance, amounting to 700,000 pound sterling, money!It's the murder of local tobacco shop owner Alex MacGregor, David Clyde, that sets off alarms in Sherlock Holmes' head to who the real killer was. It's not that MagGregor was murdered and didn't die accidentally like the "Good Comrades" but that he wasn't even a member of that exclusive Club! It was that MacGregor saw something, or someone, on the beach one evening that he wasn't supposed to see and that in the end cost him his life. It was in that clue, MacGregor's murder, that Holmes realized what exactly was going on in the strange deaths of the "Good Comrades". That and also Doctor Watson suddenly or on impulse deciding to try smoking MacGregor's left over tobacco that exposed to Holmes not only the reason for the "Good Comrades" deaths but also why they died so horribly!More like a modern horror slasher flick then a 1940's Sherlock Holmes mystery movie "The House of Fear" thankfully didn't show the results of the horrible deaths, which were more like those in the recent "SAW" films, of its victims which would have been far too much for its audience back then in 1945 to watch!

The 10th of 12 movies that Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce shared the screen as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.A prime suspect and lots of bizarre deaths indicating something that only Holmes can figure out.Watson is his usual bumbling self providing much hilarity as he stumbles about and chats with owls.The feature was also directed by Roy William Neill, who did several Holmes movies. It was an excellent story told brilliantly at Neill's hands.Mystery, comedy, and cleverness all were hallmarks of these films and make them timeless.