Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

An eerie looking British estate becomes the setting for this intriguing and intelligently written murder mystery where Holmes compares the pieces of the puzzle to a chess game. Holmes, noticing detail in the smallest of details, finds the corpse simply on a whim, wonders why footprints lead to a wall but never return, and becomes curious over the chessboard like tiling in the main foyer of this huge estate. A sudden lightning strike nearly kills innocent looking Hilary Brooke while a suspicious looking housekeeper and butler scheme to remain employed. There's no use involving Scotland Yard in this investigation. They'd just be in the way.Like the other Universal entries in this series, this is set in the present and yet Holmes and Watson (Nigel Bruce) seem as if they're back in the days of Queen Victoria. There's a touch of the famous Gothic mysteries and thrillers here, with more than just a passing resemblance to"Rebecca" and even "Downton Abbey" with the great house being used as a war hospital. It's intriguing from start to finish, with every character outside of Holmes and Watson having suspicions cast on them for one reason or another. This is great storytelling at it's best with the audience always several steps behind Holmes and bumbling Watson even further back. A funny reference to the most recent Oscar winning film will have you in stitches.

Finally, After Three WWII Tainted Holmes Films Universal Advisedly went the Direction Fans were Hoping, with the Moody, Atmospheric, Dank Dungeons, Ghostly Mansions, and Eccentric Characters that the Doyle Enthusiasts were Waiting for, this Movie Delivered Holmes to the Creepy Environs where He seemed so at Ease.This is a Neat Little Murder Mystery with Many a Set Piece that Impress, like the Chess Board, the Cellar, the Funeral, and the Musgrave Mansion Itself, Populated with Weary War Vets and a Family Cursed by Generations of Evilness.It is One of the Better in the Series and Paved the Way for a Few More Very Good Films to Follow. Rathbone and Bruce Never Waiver in Their Character Portrayals and here are Sharply Dialoged and have Much to do. There are some Very Clever Monologues and Exchanges in and around the Mansion and the Pub.Holmes is as Cruel as Usual to His Faithful Companion...Watson: "Simple Holmes a Child could figure it out." Holmes: "Not your Child Watson."

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate murders at Musgrave Manor, an estate being used as a convalescent home for soldiers suffering from combat fatigue during WW2. Fourth in Universal's marvelous Sherlock Holmes series is a highly enjoyable murder mystery within a gloomy old mansion. This one's just loaded with atmosphere. Great wind and lightning effects, nice use of shadows, and some cool sets. Good supporting cast includes lovely Hillary Brooke, Dennis Hoey, Halliwell Hobbes, and Milburn Stone of Gunsmoke fame, who at this point was a contract player at Universal. A very good entry in the series.

Considering Universal Studios churned out no less than three Sherlock Holmes pictures in 1943, after resurrecting the series with 'Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942),' it's often easy to underestimate the creative talents behind the camera. Not being particularly in the mood for an overdose of WWII Allied propaganda, I conveniently skipped over 'Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)' and 'Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)' until a later date, and was delighted to discover that 'Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)' is perhaps, in my limited experience, the finest Holmes adaptation I've seen to date. Technically, the picture is not only competent, but surprisingly proficient, and Charles Van Enger's shadowy cinematography superbly captures the desired mood. In a break from Holmes' all-important war efforts, most of the film takes place in an ancient mansion, now serving as a convalescent home for shell-shocked combat soldiers. The film openly acknowledges its somewhat cliché scenario, that one of the home's trusted residents must be a murderer, and the directness with which the narratives progresses consistently keeps us interested.'Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)' was adapted, rather loosely, from Arthur Conan Doyle's short story, "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual," which was first serialised in "The Strand Magazine" in 1893. Still in the midst of the Second World War, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) has volunteered his services at Musgrave Hall, now a convalescent home, in Northumberland. Detective Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is first summoned to the old house after Watson's assistant (Arthur Margetson) is unexpectedly attacked by an unknown assailant. By the time the detective arrives, however, the head of the house has been murdered and covered with autumn leaves. The fiancé of the murdered man's innocent sister (Hillary Brooke) is immediately suspected, and a cocky Insp. Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) wastes no time in placing him under arrest, after formulating an unashamedly inadequate solution. Holmes, meanwhile, begins to deduce that this mystery goes back considerably further than anticipated, perhaps stretching back to a centuries-old family ritual, whose meaning has been lost for generations. Can he solve the mystery before it claims its next victim?Not surprisingly, Rathbone and Bruce are excellent in their signature roles, successfully avoiding the "going through the motions" performances that usually accompany such familiarity with a character. The supporting players are adequate, if not notable, though Dennis Hoey is very enjoyable as the smug and incompetent police detective Lestrade. The story has a few indirect references to combat, but Holmes' talents don't contribute anything to the war-effort; he's much more at home when he's tackling smaller and more cunning foes than the Nazis. Above all else, Van Enger's cinematography is the picture's major star, and, considering that the filmmakers must surely have been working with a restricted budget, the crisp black-and-white photography brilliantly evokes the mood of a considerably more expensive film. Director Roy William Neill delights in subtle storytelling tools that increase the film's creepiness, including the mansion's blustery, leaf-strewn entrance, a uncannily-clever black raven, a clock-tower that occasionally strikes thirteen at midnight, and a supposed dead body that reaches out a clammy hand to ensnare the cold-blooded murderer.