SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Leofwine_draca That this 2002 Canadian TV movie is based on a made-up Holmes story rather than a canon one should be a warning in itself; this turns out to be a schlocky and entirely befuddled production that has little to do with the original stories. Purists will no doubt find themselves outraged by the antics of the producers, which reduce the story elements to their most basic level.The rest of us are left amused by a film which comes across as a cheesy B-movie instead of a classy Holmes adaptation. The entire story is set in what looks like a medieval monastery, with the sweaty monks at the mercy of a vampire killer. Wait until you see the costume! It's all very silly and of course nothing like the real Holmes.Matt Frewer starred as the Victorian sleuth in four of these movies and he portrays the detective as an upper class twit. Let's just say that his acting is entertaining for all the wrong reasons. I'm not sure why North Americans have to put on an affected RP accent every time they play a Brit; it's a bit like a Brit supposing that all Americans speak in Southern drawls, which couldn't be further from the truth. Anyway, THE CASE OF THE WHIECHAPEL VAMPIRE is a mess, but also still marginally better than the appalling BBC production of SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING with Rupert Everett.

Robert J. Maxwell Holmes (Frewer) and Watson (Welsh) are called to a case that takes place in an Abbey inhabited by monks and nuns. A couple of monks wind up with the signature bite of the vampire on their necks. The monks are terrified. It surely has something to do with their having done missionary work in Guyana, which is full of bats. The tale is a little twisted but the general idea is that the monks and nuns think they're being pursued by some South American demon, while the atheistic Holmes and the more prudent Watson look for a material source of the problem.The photography is just fine. The chiaroscuro is masterful. No kidding. Some shots evoke images of Rembrandt. We've all seen the stone and brick walls of night-time Victorian alleys before, the cobbled streets, but rarely more vividly, never more slick with glittering patches of water. Unfortunately we don't get to see too much of London. The budget apparently didn't allow for it.None of the performances stand out much. Frewer has the right features for Holmes, but a fair-haired Holmes takes a little getting used to, and so does his gaiety and light voice. Between Rathbone and Brett, the character was ruined for everyone else. Although, come to think of it, things might have been worse -- Arthur WONTNER? Cary Lawrence turns in a polished performance as the blind Sister Helen. There are one or two evocative phrases, words, or character. Whitechapel, of course, conjures up Jack the Ripper eating somebody's kidney, probably with a nice chianti. Vampires today are all over the screen, sometimes pathetic, sometime demonic, sometimes just thirsty. There was a real Doctor Chagas -- Carlos -- who became famous in tropical medicine in South America. He had a disease named after him. (Kids, the name of the disease that was named after Doctor Chagas is Chagas' disease.) Either the structure of the story is tortuous or I'm aging at a faster rate than I'd hoped, because I kept getting all those monks mixed up. If they'd only dress differently from one another. And the ending: all the clues, ratiocination, and events that have been edited out of the narrative come crashing in all at once. It leaves you feeling as f you'd just gorged yourself on the collected works of Agatha Christie.There have been worse movies about Holmes and there have been better ones. This one will pass.

Paul Andrews The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire sees Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer) & his trusty assistant Dr. Watson (Kenneth Welsh) tackle yet another baffling mystery. Holmes receives a letter from a Brother Marstoke (Shawn Lawrence) asking for his help in the murder of Brother Sinclair (Norris Domingue) who appears to have been murdered by a Vampire. Holmes takes the case & discovers that while on missionary work in Guiana Brother Marstoke has encountered such Vampiric killings before, both Brother Lee & Thomas had fallen victim. Brother Marstoke thinks that a 'demon' of some sort is responsible & has followed him back to London to continue it's killing spree. Inspector Jones (Julian Casey) & Scotland Yard are clueless so Holmes begins his investigations & quickly finds a long list of suspects like Dr. Chagas (Neville Edwards) whom is Scotland Yards number one suspect & who both studies & adores Vampire bats & to further add suspicion has had run-ins with Marstoke before, but surely there's more to it than that? As the bodies continue to pile up Holmes must cut through the superstition to find the truth & unmask the killer!This Canadian produced feature length made for TV Sherlock Holmes mystery was written & directed by Rodney Gibbons this was one of four TV films by Gibbons to feature Frewer as Holmes apparently filmed for CTV television, first was The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000) then The Sign of Four (2001) after that came The Royal Scandal (2001) & finally this, the only one not adapted from an existing Holmes mystery. The script isn't overly complex or involving but it passes an hour & a half reasonably enough. It's a simple tale & isn't exactly edge of your seat stuff but it remains watchable, it entertains & at least I wanted to stick with it right trough to the end to find out the killers identity. The character's are as you would expect, Holmes is totally brilliant in every way, Watson is his slightly slow sidekick, the police are bumbling idiots & there are many people whom seem to enjoy acting suspiciously while a murder investigation is taking place. The final reveal & the killers motives are a little unadventurous & not entirely satisfying. Technically The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire is rather lame, the cast & crew obviously never went anywhere near Lonon & probably never set foot outside Canada which hardly gives the film an authentic feel or look, basically the whole atmosphere of a grimy Whitechapel just isn't there. It's painfully obvious that it was made for TV with bland static photography, a small cast, limited sets with little period detail & cheap production values throughout. Now a word about the casting, namely Matt Frewer as Holmes. Can you believe it? Isn't Holmes meant to be English? After you get over the initial surprise he ain't too bad actually & overacts with the best of them, in fact I started to quite like him by the end amazingly. Everyone else is bland & forgettable although Welsh as Watson is pretty good while Edwards as Chagas is pretty awful. Overall The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire is a passable made for TV murder mystery that entertains to an extent, I doubt anyone will want to watch it more than once though so try & catch it on TV for free, which is where it belongs to be perfectly honest. Worth a watch if your a mystery fan & there's nothing else on.

Gyrobot The first question you need to ask is "Why the hell bother?". Sherlock Holmes has been done to death and with Jeremy Brett, reached the apex of plausibility. The Basil Rathbones are good fun and there's been numerous feature film attempts, some of which are excellent and some of which should be forever stricken from the records. Unfortunately these Hallmark efforts fit into the latter category.I've always enjoyed Matt Frewer's acting and he certainly has the perfect face for Holmes but the quality of acting is abysmal. It's like a 1960's Disney animated version of Holmes, cod Cock-er-knee accents and Sherlock has become some sort of pantomime version of himself, complete with stupid fake upper class accent and ability to annoy practically everyone. This results in all dramatic suspense being lost as we're expected to accept this Holmes as a comic geek.The few Hallmark episodes that have been produced are all stinkers and have been made purely for the US market that still believes that Victorian England was a perfect chocolate box representation.I have a sneaky suspicion that director Rodney Gibbons is the main culprit and the cause of the rampant artificiality of these terrible additions to the cult of Holmes.If you like amateur dramatics then you'll love these. If you love the density of Holmes' Victorian world you'd be better off with the many Jeremy Brett episodes.