Sherlock Holmes - The Last Vampyre
by Tim Sullivan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Edward Hardwicke, Jeremy Brett, Keith Barron, Roy Marsden, Yolanda VazquezDirector: Tim Sullivan
Brand: MPI
Cinematographer: David Odd
Editor: Kim Horton
Producer: June Wyndham-Davies
Producer: Rebecca Eaton
Producer: Sally Head
Writer: Arthur Conan Doyle
Writer: Jeremy Paul
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Mpi Home Video
Movie Reviews of Sherlock Holmes - The Last Vampyre
Movie Review: Good Film. Wrong Genre.
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Last Vampyre" was one of five feature-length films made for Granada Television's decade-long Sherlock Holmes series (1984-1994) in which Jeremy Brett starred as the brilliant Victorian detective. The writing in the series' final years was not as good as in its prime, nor of exactly the same character. It tended to be more lurid and looser with Holmes' demeanor. "The Last Vampyre" exhibits many of the pitfalls of those last seasons, and is generally poorly-regarded by fans of the series. Taken within the context of the series, I can see why this would be the case. That was my reaction the first time I saw it -and to "The Master Blackmailer", the previous year's sub-par entry. But, when I see the film again, 17 years later, its strengths as a stand-alone film are equally evident to its poor fit within the Holmes cinematic canon.
Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Dr. Watson (Edward Hardwicke) are visited in Baker Street by the Reverend Merridew (Maurice Denham) of Lamberley. Merridew is alarmed by mysterious deaths in his village and the townspeople's tendency to cast blame on a newcomer, Mr. John Stockton (Roy Marden), whom the local peasants believe to be a vampire. Holmes visits the village, where he finds "a dangerous mood in the air". The Ferguson family, whose infant son died suddenly after a dinner with Mr. Stockton, is especially distraught. Mr. Ferguson (Keith Barron) is a cotton grower who brought his new Peruvian wife Carlotta (Yolanda Vasquey), his teenaged son Jack (Richard Dempsey), and the baby to live in England. That brought only tragedy, and now Mr. Ferguson fears he is losing his moody son and grieving wife to Stockton's sinister influence.
"The Last Vampyre" was expanded from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Sussex Vampire". A straight adaptation of the story might have fared better. Nevertheless, the addition of Stockton, a scholar of South American religious cults come to Lamberley seeking his family roots, keeps the audience guessing as to his motives and places an additional stress on the Ferguson family. Ultimately, this is the story of a troubled family, and Holmes' deductions are more psychological than detective work. He discovers what any perceptive outsider would see quickly but which the hysterical townspeople and beleaguered Mr. Ferguson are blind to. "The Last Vampyre" is more psychological thriller than detective story, and, as such, is an oddball in the Holmes series. But, considered as a psychological thriller with an injection of Victorian shilling-shocker, it makes sense.
Summary of Sherlock Holmes - The Last Vampyre
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