Murder by Decree (Widescreen)

Some frightening, effective scenes as "Jack the Ripper" stalks his victims. Much more graphically violent and bloody than most Holmes' affairs, but most of it is cleverly implied.


Holmes vs. Conspiracy?   April 5, 2004
Paula Clifford (Nashua, NH United States)
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Taken separately, Plummer (too emotional) and Mason (too old) are miscast. But, their chemistry is excellent, though not as good as Rathbone and Bruce (fourteen films)or Cushing and Mills ("Masks of Death"). Frank Finlay may just be the best Lestrade. Most of the Holmes vs. Ripper film is quite good. Then comes the ending, with just about every discredited conspiracy theory ever offered thrown into one long-winded emotional speech by Holmes. Did the writers forget that in the stories brother Mycroft Holmes was the government?


The Best Jack the Ripper movie....   March 20, 2004
JR Pinto (New Jersey)
Although not based on anything written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Murder by Decree is both one of the best Sherlock Holmes movies and it is THE best Jack the Ripper movie ever made. The conspiracy theory that this movie puts forth should be familiar to anyone who is familiar with the Jack the Ripper story. It is basically the same plot as in From Hell. This is a much better movie than From Hell (although that graphic novel is one of the best of all time).

It is inevitable that someone would pit Holmes against Jack the Ripper sooner or later. Holmes made his literary debut around the same time as the Ripper, but Conan Doyle never put him on the case (because Sherlock would have to SOLVE the case and, of course, the Ripper's identity is still a mystery). In this version, fictional characters like Lestrade mingle with real-life characters like Sir Charles Warren - historically, a man whose incompetence hindered the capture of the Ripper. At this point in history, Holmes and Watson would have been comparatively young men at the start of their careers. Christopher Plummer (Holmes) and James Mason (Watson) are middle-aged and elderly, respectively. However, both actors are so fine that it is a pleasure to watch them act. James Mason - an underappreciated actor today - brings the dignity to Watson that Conan Doyle bequeathed him (this character is usually played as a dunce for comic relief). Christopher Plummer plays a humanist Holmes that would have been a tad unfamiliar to Conan Doyle - at one point, Holmes breaks down in tears, something the literary character would NEVER do. Even though Basil Rathbone will always own the part, Plummer plays him as a real person and not a caricature.

The movie was directed by Bob Clark, whose most famous film is A Christmas Story (I won't mention Porky's here). However, he also directed the greatest "the calls are coming from inside the house!" movie, Black Christmas. Here we see the same techniques as he employs the fish-eye lens to show the twisted POV of the killer. Unlike other directors, he holds this perspective even during the murder.

I've taken the Jack the Ripper tour and seen this area in real life - although now it is almost unrecognizable. This film does a good job of re-creating the look and feel of the gloomy East End of Victorian England all those years ago.


The definitive Jack the Ripper Movie   December 31, 2003
Mr. P. D. Nash (Rochford, Essex, United Kingdom)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Whilst the more recent Hughes Brothers film `From Hell' (based on Alan Moore's graphic novel) has covered the same ground with the real-life Inspector Abberline taking centre stage, ironically it is this earlier version featuring the fictional Sherlock Holmes that is the real deal.

Irrespective of whether you believe this to be the `solution' to the Ripper mystery (based on Stephen Knights' book `The Final Solution'), this film is the best version of the Ripper story to date in covering most of the established facts as well as setting the story in the context of the concern in Victorian England at the time with the rise of the Radicals. This is down to the intelligent screenplay by John Hopkins (whose script for Sidney Lumet's `The Offence' was one of Sean Connery's best films) who cleverly makes sure that every scene conveys at least one piece of information to help set the story in its proper context.

If that isn't enough, this film also possesses a wonderful eerie atmosphere by the bucketloads thanks to Harry Pottle's sets, Judy Moorcroft's costumes, Carl Zittrer and Paul Zaza's music and Reg Morris' photography (especially the distorted wide angle shots portraying the first person view of the Ripper). Of course anyone who has seen Bob Clark's earlier `Black Christmas' will recognise the same directorial flourishes which Clark uses here. It is hard to believe that Clark's later career was marked by such films as `Porky's' and its ilk as he shows such a great touch here that he should have continued to make films like this rather than the teen comedies which he is best known for. The sense of unease which the music and the camerawork in particular bring to this film is seldom seen elsewhere (the aforementioned `Black Christmas' and Bernard Rose's `Candyman' are the only examples that come to mind that I am aware of) which make for genuinely uncomfortable viewing.

If it wasn't for Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke's great television portrayal of Holmes and Watson, I would argue that Christopher Plummer and James Mason also manage to create the definitive portrayal of the great detective and his trusty assistant. Certainly theirs is the best film portrayal (although I retain a great fondness for Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely in Billy Wilder's `The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' which is a slightly more comic tale). Mason in particular avoids the trap of making Watson the cretinous sidekick which certain other versions have essayed (particular the Basil Rathbone versions which I can't believe are regarded as definitive by so many people). The warm friendship between the two is a particular highlight of this version.

Praise be to Anchor Bay who have released the DVD of this great film with a 124 minute version which seems to feature extended scenes which I have not seen previously.

This is a truly great film which I doubt will ever be surpassed in its portrayal of the Jack the Ripper murders or as a Sherlock Holmes mystery.