I am a Sherlock Holmes purist, so I am VERY quick to pick apart various Holmes films--looking for the inconsistencies from the original Conan Doyle novels. However, of all the stories I have seen that use these characters that were not based on the writer's original stories, this is among the best. The biggest reason is that the writer seemed to actually have read the stories and knew the characters. The best thing about it is that Watson (played by James Mason) is NOT a bumbling idiot but a brave and reasonably clever man--just like in the original stories. This is a HUGE plus. As for Holmes, Christopher Plummer is not the best but he's better than most. He does NOT say 'elementary my dear Watson' or other such drivel that did not appear in the original tales and he dresses without the stereotypical deerstalker cap and pipe--again, like the original stories. He isn't perfect, though, as you really don't see as much of the deductive skill as you might expect--he's much more human in this story.

The story is a WHAT IF--what if Sherlock Holmes had been real and actually investigated the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. The story is VERY complex and VERY rewarding. However, I must point out that it's easy to feel a bit lost later in the film and you should NOT stop watching. Stick with it--the payoff is great and everything is tied together very well. I am not sure, however, if Arthur Conan Doyle ever would have written such a story as it's tone is very anti-British Empire! I could say more, but it would spoil the film. Overall, excellent acting, very good writing and direction. Well worth seeing and a commendable effort by all.

Murder By Decree may not be quite perfect. Donald Sutherland is both underused and out of place in scenes that felt somewhat thrown in, the ending is a little tacky and lacking in mystery and the pacing in the middle has a tendency to be on the stodgy side. It is however still a solid and entertaining film. Murder By Decree is a well-made film, the sets and costumes are very evocative, exuding a gloomy and quite chilling atmosphere, and the beautiful photography does nothing to detract from that. Bob Clark's experience in the realm of horror made for great use, his directing shows him in his comfort zone. The music is very haunting and effectively orchestrated without being overbearing, while the script- while occasionally getting bogged down by politics- is thoughtful and literate with some nice bits of humorous banter between Holmes and Watson, and the story is complicated yet suspenseful and engaging. Apart from Sutherland, the acting is excellent. Genevieve Bujold is the standout of the supporting cast in an eerie performance and John Gielgud, David Hemmings, Anthony Quayle and Susan Clark are also great. The leads are what make Murder By Decree, with Christopher Plummer a very human and commanding Holmes and James Mason perfectly cast as a subtly composed Watson. All in all, a solid and well done film, worth checking out definitely. 7/10 Bethany Cox

In Murder By Decree fiction's most famous detective goes to work on the most famous real life case of his era, that of the infamous Whitechapel Murders, committed by the man that was dubbed Jack the Ripper. What Sherlock Holmes does to solve the case and where the ultimate responsibility for these murders lies is the basis for Murder By Decree.

Christopher Plummer and James Mason play Holmes and Doctor Watson and it's of some interest with the notoriety these killings of women of the lower classes that Scotland Yard has not called in Holmes for a consultation. But involved he gets anyway and Inspector Lestrade is happy to have him for once even though God and Arthur Conan Doyle know exactly how many times Lestrade was proved wrong by Holmes. Lestrade is played by Frank Finlay and a couple of higher ups, Anthony Quayle and David Hemmings aren't real happy Holmes is around. Especially Hemmings who really has his own agenda working.

What Holmes does find out shakes the very foundation of British society and what he finds out you'll have to see the film for.

One of the Ripper's victims is Susan Clark and the reason for her demise is to be found in the why and wherefore of the incarceration in a mental institution of Genevieve Bujold. Both women deliver outstanding performances in an otherwise mostly male film.

You think Sherlock Holmes and usually what comes to mind is a very calculating and observant individual, but something of a cold fish. He has his passions, but it usually is for justice in the abstract. It's certainly is the way he was played by that most famous of Sherlock Holmeses, Basil Rathbone. But Christopher Plummer cares very deeply for the Ripper's victims as real women and real people. His scenes with both Clark and Bujold are the most moving in the film.

The biggest criticism of the Rathbone Holmes series that I've ever run across the way Doctor Watson was downgraded gradually until he was just a buffoon that Holmes kept around for laughs. That is most certainly not the way James Mason plays him. Mason offers Plummer some wise counsel and a strong friend to lean on when the pressure gets turned on.

Plummer is also a man of action the way Rathbone never was. His final battle with the Ripper is quite something. You couldn't imagine Basil Rathbone in such a struggle.

The last 15 to 20 minutes of the film is mostly concerned with a final scene with John Gielgud playing British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury where Holmes lays his evidence and accusations to the parties involved. Gielgud makes a fine Lord Salisbury, pretty much as I've conceived him as a personality.

The identity of the Ripper has been speculated on for years and Murder By Death offers a view that does take in some of that speculation. But you don't have to be an expert on British history to thoroughly enjoy this fine film.