Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back for their tenth outing together in The House of Fear. Based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Five Orange Pips, this one leans into using the Universal Monsters sets and, consequently has a very gothic feel to it.

When a gathering of gentlemen, known as the Good Comrades Club begin receiving envelopes filled with orange pips before they start dropping dead, the detective duo find themselves heading up to Scotland to investigate the problem.

Not far behind them is Lestrade (Dennis Hoey) of Scotland Yard, and in fact, as the film progresses Holmes and Lestrade often work together, while Watson is sidelined to look after the suspects/potential victims – and provide the occasional comedic moment.

For the most part, the film really leans into its gothic nature, and is a little darker than some of the prior films. A welcome change. The pair’s friendship is still front and center which is nice, but this mystery is rather dark, and it’s executed rather well.

But with the caveat, once again, that just over an hour runtime really cripples the storytelling. Given space to breathe this one could have been the best yet. I get it that these films were made to run as parts of packages and matinees, and that long films weren’t quite a thing yet. But come on! Let your characters grow, let your stories breathe.

Rathbone and Bruce are delightful as their characters, and it’s a shame that they aren’t given the opportunity to have more character moments because the narrative is squeezed down into its barest bones to keep the film rollicking along.

Having said that, there is a character beats that I love, Lestrade taking credit for the end of Moriarty and the solving of this particular mystery. He’s quite proud, Holmes is nonplussed and Watson is rather irritated. It’s a nice bit.

The series has made extensive use of the Universal backlot and sets that were created for the Universal Monster films. And they work very well. Yes, a lot of the films, visually, start to blur together as a result, but Universal definitely got their money’s worth out of those constructions.

And they also got their money’s worth from the audience, these films endure because of the cast. They may have been made on the quick, but Rathbone and Bruce, and yes, Hooey as well, shine as these characters. They are so fun to watch. I’m increasingly regretful that we are coming up on the end of the run, but I look forward to Holmes’ next adventure The Woman in Green!