Customer comments on this Youngstown Ohio Book
seriously, some people act as though they've read the books and they haven't
This version has the feel of what I thought it should have. Whenever I read holmes stories I think of fog/excitement and oddly enough the darker side of humanity.
I've read almost all the sherlock holmes stories and when people complain about sherlock's drug use in this verion it bothers me because it was mentioned in the various stories that he used morphine and cocaine. Even if it wasn't in "the hound of the baskervilles", it was in doyle's portrayal and therefore accurate to the character.
It's even been mentioned in another film adaption, so it's not like this is the first one to play with the "OMG HOLMES IS A DRUGGIE" thing.
If this scene bothers you pretend it's insulin or something but don't say it's horrible to mention his habit. (and it wasn't really a habit so much as a stress/needing excitement evening out) thing.
So don't give people who haven't read the books the wrong impression.
Obviously there were some liberties, but the drug use WASN'T one of them.
Not as good as it could have been
This movie changed way too many things in the book that it didn't need to to conserve the length of the movie and it wasn't scary enough. Also, it isn't very well filmed because as my siser and my mom and I were watching it, in the corner of the screen we saw a guy wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt who was obviously part of the crew. One more thing: I kind of expected Holmes to be older.
Not the best Hound, but not the worst
I saw this version when it aired on Masterpiece Theatre, and it had a piece for the filmmakers at the end. The filmmakers said that they were trying to enhance the feeling of horror in the story. In that, they have succeeded. The Grimpen Mire is genuinely creepy, and the pacing and scenery do enhance the feelings of claustrophobia and fear of the unknown. Hart's Watson is not stupid (my first criterion for a good Holmes movie) and is the equal of Hardwicke and Burke. Hart's Stapleton is also truly creepy, and it is very clear (and logical) in how he is able to control his wife. No, that is not part of the stroy, but I don't find it to be an impossible addition/clarification.
That said, while I did not mind moving the timing of the story, one of the final scenes is so far from what is in the story, it ruined all of the good feelings I had held earlier. Perhaps rewatching this move with the knowledge of how the book was changed will enable me to enjoy the film for what it is worth, but I don't know. That change may have enhanced the horror of the stroy, but it also changed the characters in a way that I do not think is true to the spirit of the book.
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