The House of Fear (1945)

"Once a man has dipped his fingers in blood, sooner or later he'll feel the urge to kill again.", 30 July 2006

As Sherlock Holmes' puts it, the members of group of older gentlemen known as The Good Comrades have only one thing in common – they're all worth more dead than alive. One by one, the members of The Good Comrades are bumped-off in horrifying ways after receiving an envelope containing orange pips (seeds to us Yanks). Holmes discovers that the members of the group have made each other beneficiaries on their insurance policies. Could one of The Good Comrades be behind the string of mysterious deaths? It sure looks to be the case.

The House of Fear is near the top of my favorites list when it comes to the Rathbone/Holmes films. It's a wonderfully entertaining mystery with a nice old dark house for a setting. My favorite of the Holmes films are those with a touch of horror. When you combine horror and mystery successfully as in The House of Fear, you've got a winner as far as I'm concerned. I've seen comments on the internet on how easy it is to figure this one out. Sure, but it's a lot of fun watching Holmes and Watson get to the answer. As I'm learning as I watch these Holmes films, Watson again is given the opportunity to steal some quality time from Holmes. His late night shoot-out is wonderfully funny.

Roy William Neil is probably one of the best things that happened to Universal's Holmes series. His entries in the series have a tone and look to them that makes them stand out. For what ever reason, I hardly ever see him mentioned when people discuss the great directors of the 30s and 40s. He's easily someone I consider under-appreciated.

8/10