Friday Night Frights: Sherlock Holmes DVD Review

How does Sherlock Holmes qualify for Friday Night Frights? Simple. This isn’t just any Sherlock Holmes movie, this is the Asylum’s newest release that finds Sherlock Holmes battling against dinosaurs, giant sea creatures and robots, and a dragon, don’t forget the dragon.

The movie opens with Dr. Watson on his deathbed, dictating his most outrageous adventure with the legendary Sherlock Holmes to his nurse. The reason this adventure was kept on the down low is that he knew no one would believe his fantastic tale of killer robots, dragons and dinosaurs. After a steamer ship is taken down by a giant squid, Holmes and Watson get involved in the investigation. A meandering line of clues and strange events, such as a raptor sized dinosaur murdering questionable characters in Whitechapel Square lead the duo to a plot to kill the Queen of England. Sound like fun? Well, it is.

Sherlock Holmes is suprisingly well done, shot in the Wales countryside that provides a beautiful and convincing backdrop for this period piece. The acting is some of the best I have seen from Asylum, with Dominic Keating showing up as the bad guy who would take over England. Ben Syder made for a unique performance as Holmes, a bit more shy and softer spoken than usual portrayals but with a penchant for irritating Watson for his own amusement that added some fun to the film. Gareth David-Lloyd was strong as Watson, the somewhat frazzled assistant to Holmes who would later record their adventures for posterity.

As usual, Tiny Juggernaut moves about their limited budget quite well, creating memorable special effects that work well with the movie. The CGI reminded me a bit of League of Extraordinary Gentleman. It was obvious that the dinosaurs, dragons, etc. were graphics, but they were nicely blended into the backgrounds, unlike some previous Asylum entries.

The special features include a short 9 minute making of documentary that gives some interesting behind the scene footage. Also included is as a blooper reel, showing the standard collection of line flubs and crackups during filming. I appreciated the commentary track as I enjoyed hearing the discussing shooting in Wales on a short schedule and limited budget. Overall this was a nice collection to complement the release.

I know that there are a lot of movie snobs that are predetermined to trash on Asylum and all of their films before even glimpsing the opening credits. If this sounds like you, don’t bother with Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand, if you think the idea of combining Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with Jules Verne sounds like fun, then go out and buy this dvd. It is definitely one of Asylum’s best releases to date.

Special Features:

The Making of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes
Bloopers
Cast and Crew Commentary

Want to check out some other Asylum Film reviews? Megafault 2012 Supernova Haunting of Winchester House 100 Feet