CineBad!!!

This movie gave me severe nightmares as an impressionable pre-adolescent. Upon viewing it now, in my jaded mid-20’s, I must say- it still gives me the creeps. I think it must be residual memories, though, because the movie is seriously cheesy in parts!

It’s the tale of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, in their teenage years. They get into a big adventure- someone is killing elderly gentleman on the streets of London. What is the connection? It turns out that a group of English entrepreneurs attempted to build a hotel in Egypt a number of years back. They desecrated a sacred tomb and really ticked off an Egyptian Death-Worshipping cult.

Anyway, the cult re-establishes itself in inner-city London, complete with shaved heads and elaborate rituals involving lots of chanting. Their weapon of choice is a blow gun, through which they fire drugged thorns at unsuspecting targets. The thorns cause their victims to have seriously bad trips, usually leading to killing themselves in weird ways (like one victim stabbed himself to death in the middle of an antique shop he was visiting). Verrry clever! It always looks like suicide, but Sherlock Holmes knows better!

There is also a cute romantic subplot- something you’d never see from the likes of Basil Rathbone. We find out why the Old Sherlock Holmes never married- he’s still pining for his girlfriend who died saving his life in this flick (sniff sniff). All in all, this was a very cute cheesy film. A good one for the budding youngsters who are just realizing the magic of the cheesy silver screen.