BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
SnoopyStyle
It's the classic story of Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer) and his best friend Dr. Watson (Kenneth Welsh) in turn of the century England. A demonic hound is rumored to be terrorizing the countryside which Holmes dismisses. Sir Henry Baskerville (Jason London) convinces them to investigate the death of his uncle Sir Charles Baskerville blamed on the mysterious curse.This is a Canadian adaptation of the classic tale. The production value is fair for a TV movie. It doesn't have the best style. I'm sure they filmed this in the Canadian countryside which doesn't always have an England vibe. They do a bit of fog and some stone works with small buildings. It's too much forest and too wilderness. It doesn't feel like the moors. Mostly, this rests on the actors. Welsh is more than up to the task. The veteran saves this movie and he has the bigger role. Watson does most of the investigating in this version. Frewer feels a little light in the role. Jason London is too modern in his character. Overall, this is fine but it's nothing special.
micaofboca-1
You say you wonder how on earth they cast an American/Canadian actor as Holmes rather than a British one. I don't see your point. Sir Henry had been in Canada for long enough to have eradicated any vestiges of a British accent that might have (or might not have) lingered from his boyhood if indeed he had been educated in England although he might not have been schooled there). I've always looked for an American/Canadian accent (which are indistinguishable; I'm from upstate New York and the knooks speak like Yanks.) in any performance of this role. I'd be uncomfortable with Sir Henry speaking in a British accent. No indication of an English accent should have existed.
dif1959
I cannot agree with most of the comments here. Any film version of a Holmes story is going to be a problem - why pick on this one? After all, something of the rather pointed (sometimes uncomfortable) sarcasm of the literary Holmes comes through. No performance is seriously bad in this film; Frewer comes over well, so do the rest. I sometimes wonder if affection for certain film portrayals rather overrides the accuracy of the story - this one was not the worst by a long shot. Utter accuracy is not probable in the film world, so we should, I think, not be all too picky. Even so, the flavour of the stories is one which no director has ever captured, I admit. This film goes some way towards rectifying the matter.
tckld_pnk
This certainly wasn't the best screen adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles that I've ever seen, but it was okay. I want to know why on earth they cast an American/Canadian actor as Holmes rather than a British one. I mean, really, it's Max Headroom, for crying out loud! And wasn't he also the jock father in Honey I Shrunk the Kids? Why would the director ever even consider him to play Holmes? He wasn't that great. He overacted even more than is expected in a TV movie. And his fake British accent was horrible.I didn't like how they had Holmes and Watson's relationship portrayed either. The literary Holmes was cold, calculating, and even arrogant at times, yes, but he wasn't deliberately a jerk. This guy was. And the way Watson got an attitude with him afterwards (which, in all honesty, is completely understandable after this Holmes' behavior) made it hard to understand why these two men would be such great "friends" and roomies if Holmes was really such a jerk and Watson resented it so much.And that poor dog. What did they do to its eyes to make them red like that? I hope it was just CG-ed to make them look like that, because it was obviously a real dog. And what kind of dog was that? It looked smaller than my medium-sized Chow Chow. I mean, I was expecting this big, bear-like Newfoundland mix or something and it was just this scrawny little mutt. It was kind of disappointing. Poor dog.Other than that, and the obligatory cutting of half the story (which can be understood, as it's a Hallmark TV movie), this movie was fair. It's worth the $8 DVD what has four other Sherlock Holmes movies on it as well, good for a rainy afternoon with nothing better to do. Other than that... Eh, like I said, it was fair.
