A Study in Terror



After reading about a brutal pair of murders committed in White Chapel and receiving a mysterious package from an anonymous sender containing a surgeon’s kit that is suspiciously missing a scalpel, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are both drawn into the intriguing case of Jack the Ripper.



So a couple of months ago I watched Jack the Ripper, and before I finally settled on it I noticed something about a few of the movies in my watch-list. Namely that I actually had quite a few movies on my list that were in some way connected to Jack the Ripper. I swear that wasn’t intentional in any way, so it must have been something subconscious on my part or there’s just too many of these movies out there and I didn’t realize it and just kept adding them. Either way I figured it’d be an interesting theme for the month. So let’s find out together whether watching all these is a good idea or will leave me horribly bitter by the end of it…

First up in our Jack the Ripper Month is A Study in Terror, a British thriller from 1965 starring everyone’s favorite eccentric British detective, Sherlock Holmes. Terror is one of two films from that time period in which Holmes matched wits with the notorious killer, the other being Murder by Decree from 1979, featuring Christopher Plummer as the famous detective (good movie, you should watch it). Of course in both films Holmes was able to solve the real-life crime, but each story did so by using two wildly different theories, and thus came up with two wildly different conclusions. If you’re curious about my opinion, Decree probably wins out at being the better film, but Terror is still a solidly put together Holmes story.



And really, your enjoyment of this film is really going to boil down to the reason you’re watching it. If you’re watching because you’re in the mood for some old Sherlock Holmes detective goodness, then you’ll likely walk away fairly pleased. Because as a Holmes story, Terror is pretty solid. The story unfolds slowly over the course of the film, both plainly laying out the story and also dropping hints and clues that you may or may not notice depending on your observational skills. And while I did notice some problems with parts of the script, like at the end where Holmes literally put a woman’s life in danger just so he could make an entrance during the film’s grand climax, none of it annoyed me enough to make me dislike the film.



The acting is also decidedly on the good side, with no standout issues to be seen. John Neville plays a very decent Sherlock Holmes, towing the line just enough between cocky and eccentric so that he lands on the likable side of the spectrum, rather than coming across like a pompous ass, which can occasionally happen. And Donald Houston compliments him nicely as Dr. Watson, so much so that I think this may be one of his more likable portrayals. In a few too many of these tales he’s treated like a bumbling buffoon, often just to highlight how smart Holmes is. But here he’s actually treated like he’s competent and has a brain that can follow along (he is a doctor, after all!), even if said brain may not be quite as quick-witted as that of his colleague.


It’s just nice not to see him being treated like an idiot, unlike he was in those Rathbone films.

That being said, if you don’t really care about Holmes and want to watch this because you’re some sort of Ripperologist, then I suspect that you’re going to take issue with parts of this movie. Unlike when I watched Jack the Ripper, which just used the Ripper moniker to tell its own random serial killer story, Study in Terror actually does a better job of being more historically accurate to the real-life crimes… to a point, anyway. The names of the victims are all accurate this time, and they also all die in the proper order. So at least that checks out. The methods in which they die and the surrounding circumstances, however, are often completely off. So you have victims dying in different ways, and things like the missing organs, the writing on the wall, or the additional letters sent to the police/press are all ignored. So they did get parts of the history right, but they glossed over most of the gory details or ignored them completely, which may or may not factor into your enjoyment of the movie.



Other than that though, A Study in Terror is a very well put together film. Historically speaking, it at least gets most of the main points right, something that seems surprisingly hard to pull off for similar films, so I’m giving it at least partial credit for at least skimming through a history book. And even though it may not be the best Holmes movie out there and I had a couple issues with parts of the plot, it’s still a well crafted detective story that’s both engaging and easy enough to follow along with. Plus, it’s technically sound, with decent direction, acting and lighting, so it’s nice not to have to complain about those things for once. Though I did take slight issue with the soundtrack. Not necessarily because it’s bad, per say, but because it’s horribly dated thanks to the 60s and 70s obsession with bongos, that REALLY DO NOT fit in a Victorian-style setting. But other than that, this is a decent and quick little detective story. So if you like those kinds of movies, then feel free to give this one a watch. But if you’re a stickler for historical accuracy, prepare to be perpetually annoyed.

A Study in Terror is available on a variety of streaming services.

A Study in Terror is also available on DVD and Bluray, in various territories.

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