Publisher: CinemaSerf September 3, 2023
At the start of many of the DVDs of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" series of films, there is an introduction from Christopher Lee that reminds us, in the words of "Dr. Watson" that Holmes was a "self-abuser using opiates and other substances..." This early outing for the legendary sleuth stars James D'Arcy as the "Holmes" whom together with his new found friend "Dr. Watson" (Roger Morlidge) is on the trail of a murderer. Oddly enough, a murderer who is doing some good, namely bumping off some local kingpins. Gradually, the pair become convinced that the dreaded "Moriarty" - long thought dead - is anything but, and is manipulating the lucrative heroin trade in London. This film is one of the few that depicts "Holmes" as a drug user - and it demonstrates quite potently the effects the drug has on his brilliant mind - the good and the bad. The adventure is quite well strung together, decently paced and though D'Arcy is a little lightweight, he does offer up a glimpse of the vulnerability of the perceptive but flawed young "Holmes". It's an adequately produced television movie with decent standards and a dialogue that helps build up a degree of suspense. Sadly, though, the audience are never really in doubt as to whom is whom, nor as to the inevitable ending. Still, a little like "Young Sherlock Holmes" (1985) it takes a different slant with the story and characters, and though nothing remarkable, is still quite watchable.