The Hound of the Baskervilles

1959 "The Most Horror-Dripping TALE EVER WRITTEN!"
6.9| 1h27m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 03 July 1959 Released
Producted By: Hammer Film Productions
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

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Director

Terence Fisher

Production Companies

Hammer Film Productions

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The Hound of the Baskervilles Audience Reviews

Wordiezett So much average
Console best movie i've ever seen.
ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Mark Turner Growing up in the sixties we didn't have access to things taken for granted today. No video recorders, no DVDs, no streaming services and for the most part no cable even. If we wanted to see something we watched it when it was on. It also meant that there was plenty of classic films to be found on select VHF stations, collections bought in packages that those stations ran. It was on one of these stations that I was able to watch all of the classic Universal horror films and the wonderful series of Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. But one night I was able to see a different version of Holmes, a more recent one, and loved it as much as I did those in the series. It featured Peter Cushing in the lead role and was titled THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.The film opens in the past with the story of Hugo Baskerville, an entitled rogue if there ever was one, and his demise due to the famed hound from hell that roamed the moors seeking revenge against him. Time has passed and we move forward to the present (in this case late 1800s, early 1900s). The new heir to Baskerville Hall is Sir Henry (Christopher Lee) and an attack on his life has already been made. Holmes is hired to protect him but instead send Watson (Andre Morell) to stay by his side while he finishes business in London.Watson obliges and does his best to protect Sir Henry but mysterious things are afoul in the area. A convict has escaped from Dartmoor Prison nearby and has yet to be captured. A woman is seen prowling the moors and Sir Henry finds himself attracted to her. Lights are lit in the hall where no one should be. And the baying of a hound is heard at night.Clues mount up, Holmes arrives in more ways than one and the mystery of the hound is sought out. It's a story with plenty of those clues giving hints as to what is going on but never quite revealed until the final scene. In other words, a great mystery.The movie succeeds in so many ways it's difficult to pinpoint just which should take credit. Produced by Hammer Films, the studio already responsible for pairing Lee and Cushing in their versions of Frankenstein and Dracula, made the smart move of pairing them here together again. Director Terence Fisher does an amazing job of bringing the best out of all his actors. The sets and locations are perfect. The story moves along at a pace that holds your interest and never releases it. In short it is a near perfect film and perhaps the best made revolving around Sherlock Holmes. So sad to think of how wonderful it would have been to see Cushing star in more films based on the character.Twilight Time is releasing this one and as always they've done a fantastic job. The quality of the transfer is wonderful to see. This time around they also offer more extras than usual. Those include an isolated music and effects track, audio commentary with film historians David Del Valle and Steven Peros, audio commentary with film historians Paul Scrabo, Lee Pfeiffer and Hank Reinke, ACTOR'S NOTEBOOK: CHRISTOPHER LEE, hound mask creator Margaret Robinson on the film, Christopher Lee reading excerpts from the book and the original theatrical trailer. Once again Twilight Time this is a limited edition and restricted to just 3,000 copies. If you love Cushing, Lee, Holmes or Hammer by all means jump on a copy of this right away. If you just love a good movie it's worth having as well.
Hitchcoc "The Hound of the Baskerville" is such a great story. Why do the producers of the several remakes of the story mess around with the plot. The Basil Rathbone one has seances and other silliness; even the Jeremy Brett one, which for other episodes remains true to the story plots, messes around with the conclusion. It isn't that this isn't somewhat enjoyable. It's just not "The Hound of the Baskerville." One thing I noted was that the character of Watson is treated with some respect. Nigel Bruce is a ding dong, incapable of writing his own name, let alone performing as a published author. There is good atmosphere and the usual Hammer film panache, so stay with it and enjoy it for what it is.
Prichards12345 Hammer Films intended, in this stylish and well-appointed remake of the 1939 Basil Rathbone classic, to begin a whole cycle of Sherlock Holmes movies. Unfortunately the box-office returns were slightly disappointing, probably due to the story being over-familiar than anything they did wrong; and while this remains the only Hammer Sherlock it's certainly one of their finest efforts.Peter Cushing was a natural for the part of Holmes, and here he is re-teamed with Christopher Lee for the 3rd time in a Hammer movie. Andre Morrell is a far superior Dr. Watson to Nigel Bruce's buffoonish turn, and the film beautifully captures the richly Gothic atmosphere of Conan Doyle's most famous story.Of course this being Hammer they introduced even more horror overtones than the story already has; David Oxley's Sir Hugo Baskerville is one of the nastiest aristocrats ever put on screen. In a splendid opening prologue concerning the legend of the hound we discover just WHY the Baskerville family is haunted by a curse, and Oxley plays it for all he is worth.Cushing is ably supported by the rest of the cast: from Francis De Wolff's splendidly arrogant Dr. Mortimer to John Le Mesurier's furtive Barrymore the acting is great. Another priceless turn by Miles Malleson as Bishop Frankland supplies the humour.But what really sticks in my mind is Jack Asher's wonderful cinematography and Bernard Robinson's cleverly constructed sets. Terence Fisher again directs with aplomb. I only wish the movie had been more successful so Hammer could have made follow-ups. Splendid stuff.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU An old production of the BBC, but quite feasible still today. Don't expect special effects of course but the story is told just nice and clean. In this story you have all that could be frightening for the Victorians at the end of the 19th century. A blood line that could get lost or rather spoiled by the unknown son of one of the heirs of a title. The heir himself is dead but the son is coming strong. Then a monster animal of the dog family. The English have always liked dogs, but they seem to be afraid of some of them. A howling dog on a moor is of course quite frightening at night with a little bit of fog. Then a couple of loose women who are ready to do too much for a certain price without asking too many questions. When one of them does then she is nicely tied up clean and tight. Then some faithful servants but with divided loyalties because of a relative that is not very clean and they want to protect. That will reveal the good heart of the aristocracy. Then a few locals, vaguely seen between, two curtains and two doors that add some local color to the screen. And finally know-it-all Sherlock Holmes whose fame isn't to know the criminal but to trap him into accepting his guilt and proving it all by himself. He always succeeds so no problem there again. The only question is the punishment of that criminal. Will the police be brought into the picture or will they not? Will he hang or will he die in a more refined way. You have to go and watch the film pr just read Sir Conan Doyle.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID