Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

bjhiza This lame entry does a terrible disservice to the great detective..for example..when Sally rushes to find Holmes at the pub to tell him her brother Phillip is missing, Holmes response: "did you check his room?"...really. Why did it take so long for Holmes to realize the Musgrave Ritual was chess terms???..why did he play the chess game with humans.was it really necessary? Why did Holmes dig he broken needle fragment out of Phillip Musgraves's head? Don't they do autopsies on murder victims in England? Why did Dr. Sexton leave the Crown Grant down in the crypt? Why didn't the Musgrave's claim the land ages ago? "Oh, I'd rather stay poor, and let two generations down the road claim the land"...????? Why did Sally throw away a fortune??? Is there a law in England that states when you inherit land you have to evict the former tenants?!?!?...the whole movie is filled with idiotic nonsense....

Leofwine_draca This entry in the Rathbone/Holmes canon has all the typical elements present and correct, and carries on the wartime theme by being set at a home for war wounded officers. Fans of the actor - or, indeed the author - will find it passes the time amiably enough as I did, even if there's no way that you can say this is a classic of the series. There are no real stand-out performances from the supporting cast members, and even the villain of the film is a lacklustre one.Once again it's down to Rathbone and Bruce to salvage the film as best they can, with able comic relief from Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade who brightens up the film every time he's on screen. Rathbone gives a typically stirring speech in the closing stages of this film (a propaganda-tinged one, no less) although Bruce doesn't have any real moments to shine in this film - he's fine, but Hoey gets all the best jokes.The setting, an isolated mansion, is a familiar one, and atmospheric too. There's even a lightning strike which causes a suit of armour to crash to the ground. The mystery, involving the 'Musgrave Ritual' is directly based on one of the Conan Doyle stories. The typical twists and clues are all there and rather easy to spot. The film includes every mystery aspect possible - the room locked from the inside, the whodunit, the string of grisly murders, etc. - and as such it's a solid addition to the 'old dark house' sub-genre of movie-making.

Paul Evans The Musgrave ritual is one of those stories that in whatever format, be it book or television, that I'm not a great lover of, dare I say I find it a little uninteresting, and while the film is largely based on that text, it manages to be fairly intriguing.It's a more traditional outing for Holmes, he's very much here in the guise of Detective, not a Spy, he's been called in to solve a mystery, not clear up Nazi spies or such like.The amendments to the plot are interesting, making it a fairly interesting story-line, I must say that it is beautifully shot, it is so fluid and beautifully made. The production values are incredibly high, you almost wish some of the others in the series had such attention to detail.Less banter between Lestrade and Watson, this movie took on a more serious tone I guess. It's a little slow in the middle, but the ending is great, boasting some real tension. All in all it's a very good watch, 7/10

Michael_Elliott Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) *** (out of 4) Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) is working at a convalescent home where a murder takes place so he calls in his buddy Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to solve it. As soon as the detective shows up more bodies start to pile up so Holmes looks from the inside to catch the killer. This fourth film in Universal's series manages to be quite good even though the supporting cast here isn't nearly as strong as previous films. What does work is Neill's strong direction, which makes for some funny scenes as well as a tense ending where Holmes, as the title tells, faces death. There's a rather amusing bit with a human chess board that manages to be funny as well as give major clues to the killer's identity. Rathbone and Bruce once again deliver the goods and continue to make an impressive team. Dennis Hoey has a few funny moments but Arthur Margetson, Halliwell Hobbes and Hillary Brooke are all rather weak and don't offer any support. The screenplay is quite clever and manages to offer up a few good surprises along the way. Unlike the previous three films, this one here doesn't have any message about the world nor does it talk about the evil German but instead just delivers a pretty good mystery.