Popular reviews

• 

  Review by Joe ★★★★½

  All I knew about this movie before I watched it was that it was about Sherlock Holmes chasing down Jack the Ripper, and that James Mason played Dr. Watson. That was obviously more than enough for me, but it was cool to find out in the opening credits that Holmes is played by Christopher Plummer and the whole thing was directed by Bob Clark!

  I'll start with Mason, who's perfect as Watson even though it's the exact opposite of the kind of character he specializes in, without an ounce of sarcasm or condescension in him. Plummer also goes a bit against type as Holmes (although more against Holmes' type than Plummer's), playing him as a more or less well-adjusted (and,…

• 

  Review by panos75 ★★★

  Jack the Ripper is wreaking havoc in Whitechapel and some locals, alarmed by Scotland Yard's inability to apprehend him, ask from renowned sleuth Sherlock Holmes to assist in the investigation. He accepts and starts to discover evidence of a conspiracy that involves some of the highest ranking persons in the government.

  "Murder by Decree" is an adequate Sherlock Holmes flick. Nothing more, nothing less. Art direction and cinematography are impressive in their recreation of Victorian London, the script is pretty solid, and the performances by the stellar cast are excellent. Yet it has two significant flaws. First, the direction by Bob Clark is pedestrian. He plays it safe to the point that one might rightfully mistake this for a TV…

• 

  Review by Mondo Cinema ★★★★

  If any of you out there haven't seen this, you're missing out.
  It's one of the better Sherlock Holmes movies not based on a book.

  Mondo Cinema out.....

• 

  Review by Krommedijk ★★★★

  The best Sherlock Holmes story Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote? While Sherlock Holmes (Plummer) and his faithful companion Dr. Watson (Mason) enjoying an opera, notorious killer Jack the Ripper strikes again. Holmes is asked to end this maniac's terror and follows a trail that leads to a psychic (Sutherland), who gives him the necessary information to start the investigation. Yet, from that moment on, Holmes's life is in danger, as more murders are more murders are being carried out and small clues point to the direction of further investigation.

  I saw the restored version and I must say it is a huge improvement. The film and its cinematography are much better and richer now, rather than stuffy and dark. The…

• 

  Review by Will ★★½

  Flirted with the line for me between mediocre and satisfactory, and all in all, it just fell below that line. Plummer and Mason are fine together, but the plot never truly intrigued me, and although the atmosphere is very typically foggy, dark alley Ripper-ish conditions, I hoped for much more.

  See where I rank this and other Holmes films;
  letterboxd.com/willor/list/ranking-all-sherlock-holmes/

• 

  Review by Travis Lytle ★★★

  A low-key, well-acted thriller, Bob Clark's "Murder by Decree" mixes Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper to a mostly engaging effect. Christopher Plummer's Holmes and James Mason's Dr. Watson find themselves on the trail of a string of murders that could involve London's highest society in this mystery that exposes a more human side of the famous detective.

  A treat for those familiar with Ripper history, the film revels in details of the murders and those involved. Adding Holmes and Watson to the mix creates a literary layer to the story and increases the film's overall character. Though parts of the narrative are somewhat uninvolving, the story is a compelling mix of historical fantasy and reality.

  Clarks's film contains the…

• 

  Review by Chris 🦑 ★★★★★

  "You squashed my pea."

  is it a good movie? i think so. is it a good sherlock adaptation? i havent read any of it so i couldnt answer that. is the message towards the end a bit muddled? yes unfortunately. however... are holmes and watson mutually in love in this? ABSOLUTELY. do james mason and christopher plummer play this up to its fullest potential? THEY SURE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• 

  Review by Misha Beattie ★★★½

  Nice sets and atmospheric creepiness, great chemistry between Plummer and Mason, and the jokes and banter land early on. But the movie loses so much steam about halfway through, and the mystery and reveal aren’t strong enough.

• 

  Review by Dale Nauertz ★★★★½

  If I had known there was a movie in which Sherlock Holmes investigates the Jack the Ripper killings, I would have watched it a lot sooner.

  Frankly, I don't know why this movie isn't more well known. That premise alone should be enough to make it a must-see. But even beyond that killer, high concept premise there is a lot to recommend about "Murder by Decree". For one thing, it has a sharp and compelling script by John Hopkins based on a highly influential book by Steven Knight, Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd. Knight's book put forth a theory about the Jack the Ripper killings that also influenced Alan Moore's "From Hell" graphic novel and the film based upon that…

• 

  Review by Adam L ★★½ 4

  There’s a good movie in here somewhere. Christopher Plummer and James Mason have wonderful chemistry as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The film looks good, and several scenes are unsettling and scary. But it’s all just such a slog. I’m fairly certain Donald Sutherland’s psychic character could have been cut out completely and it wouldn’t have affected the plot. The final explanation about the Jack the Ripper murders, in which Holmes berates the Prime Minister played by John Gielgud, feels interminable but it could just be that the material feels stale in a world where Alan Moore’s From Hell exists.

  I wanted to like this, and was on board for the first 30 minutes, but it’s slightly over two hours and the pacing is just deadly.

• 

  Review by Juan Castillo ★★★½

  Curioso y, en su día, célebre thriller seudohistórico comandado por el también curioso Bob Clark (firmante tanto de un proto-slasher de la categoría de Black Christmas como de Porky's, germen de la comedia teenager gamberra) que se acerca a la opaca figura de Jack el Destripador a partir de las especulaciones que el escritor Stephen Knight había desgranado años antes en Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (la base, también, de From Hell de Moore y Campbell).
  Lo insólito del libreto de John Hopkins (basado, a su vez, en The Ripper File de Elwyn Jones y John Lloyd) que Clark pone en imágenes es que, como ya ocurriera en la menos ambiciosa A Study in Terror (James Hill, 1965), sitúa a dos personajes de…

• 

  Review by Mark Costello ★★★½

  A wonderfully starry cast pit Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper in this solid but unexceptional thriller.

  Christopher Plummer and James Mason make a very good Holmes and Watson, with Mason the standout thanks to the gravitas with a touch of playfulness he brings to the traditional (mostly up to that point anyway) bumbling sidekick. Throw in David Hemmings, Frank Finlay, John Gielgud, Donald Sutherland, Anthony Quayle and Genevieve Bujold and its almost an embarrassment of riches for Black Christmas' Bob Clark to play with.

  And its very much Black Christmas Bob Clark as opposed to Porky's or even A Christmas Story Clark that turns his hand to this, the Ripper scenes imbued with a real sense of his slasher…