Man, I really liked how this Sherlock Holmes adventure started out, but the second half kinda lost me. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, and despite some goofy narration to set up the tale at the beginning, instead of letting the film tell the story, I was really engaged with the idea.

It seems someone is murdering women across London, and he’s being dubbed the new Jack the Ripper. But there are no real similarities between any of the women, and Holmes goes to work on solving the mystery.

Known as The Finger Murders, the idea is very intriguing, but the story gets sidelined pretty quickly, because it’s not about the women being murdered, it’s about how the murders are being committed. And that’s where things tend to get a little silly, and lost me.

It seems the men are being seduced by Lydia Marlowe (Hillary Brooke) and then drugged and hypnotized into committing the murder, which they don’t remember, and consequently blackmailed by the notorious Moriarty (Henry Daniell) – but no one recognizes him until he’s named because it’s yet another actor taking on the role.

And from there it’s not even a battle of wits, as the writing doesn’t seem up to par with the earlier films. This is the eleventh, so I guess it’s no surprise that some of them aren’t going to be so great. But it started out so well. It was darker, more somber, I really thought they were leaning into a new direction for the series.

Instead, it just settles into a goofy confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty, and climaxes with the (apparent) death of Moriarty.

There isn’t quite so much humor and banter between Holmes and Watson this time out, though there are some nice sequences, like the attempted assassination on Holmes. Overall, however, this one was a bit of a disappointment. The series had been going pretty strong until this point, sure stories and characters were confined by ridiculously short runtimes, but overall, they proved to be very entertaining. Especially with Rathbone and Bruce in the lead roles.

And if you can’t get the same actor to come back for the role, like you have Holmes, Watson and Lestrade (Dennis Hooey is absent from this film) then maybe not use the character. You ruin your own continuity. I know it wasn’t as big a thing then as it is now, but come on.

This one because it had such great potential at its start is probably my least favorite of the series. Let’s hope it ends on a stronger note. Next time Holmes and Watson are in Pursuit to Algiers!