Retro Mystery Movie: Murder By Decree

Christopher Plummer and James Mason

Sherlock Holmes has investigated some difficult cases, but in 1979's Murder By Decree, he tries to solve one of the greatest mysteries of all: the identity of Jack The Ripper. The film is one of the better big screen Holmes adventures, thanks in large part to the strong direction by Bob Clark, and outstanding performances from Christopher Plummer as Holmes and James Mason as Dr. Watson. There's also an all-star supporting cast, including Donald Sutherland, Genevieve Bujold, Anthony Quayle and John Gielgud. 

A series of grisly murders is plaguing Whitechapel, and Scotland Yard is having difficulty apprehending the perpetrator, or even producing any leads on the killer. When Holmes joins the hunt for the man nicknamed "Jack The Ripper," he finds his investigation blocked at every turn. Eventually, the consulting detective becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving the police, the Freemasons and even the hallowed halls of the British government. Could Jack The Ripper have ties to the Royal Family? If Holmes uncovers the truth, will he be putting both his and Watson's lives in danger?

Murder By Decree is an atmospheric, well-mounted thriller. The cast is excellent across the board, but Plummer and Mason take top honors for their amazing work as Holmes and Watson. They have wonderful chemistry, and both actors bring warmth and conviction to their interpretations of these iconic characters. Plummer is especially good in a moving scene with Genevieve Bujold as Annie Crook, who's an unfortunate victim of the conspiracy that hopes to conceal the Ripper's true identity. He is also first-rate in a scene at the end of the film where he confronts representatives of the government regarding the truth about the Ripper mystery.

Holmes had faced off against Jack The Ripper once before on cinema screens, in the 1965 thriller A Study In Terror, an almost Hammer-style take on the story. Murder By Decree's solution to the Ripper's identity, which posits that the killer may have had a connection to the royal family, was an idea much in vogue at the time of the film's release. That theory has since fallen out of favor, but that doesn't take away from the fact this is an exciting, well-produced Holmes adventure. In addition to the wonderful cast, the direction by Bob Clark is stellar. The talented and eclectic Clark also helmed films as diverse as Deathdream, Black Christmas, Porky's and A Christmas Story.

Murder by Decree wasn't the only Ripper tale released to theaters in 1979. Time After Time, written and directed by Nicholas Myer, featured H.G. Wells (played by Malcolm McDowell)  facing off against Jack The Ripper (portrayed by David Warner) in a time travel tale bringing both men to present-day San Francisco. It's a delightful film which also features Mary Steenburgen in an an early role. Time After Time is an enjoyable science-fiction adventure, and would make a great double feature with Murder By Decree. Both films are available on DVD, Blu-ray and on various streaming services.

A Fateful Train Ride with "Dr. Terror"

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

Horror films have found great success using the anthology format throughout the years, with multi-story productions ranging from the 1964 Japanese chiller Kwaidan, the made for TV classic Trilogy of Terror (1975) and the 1982 favorite Creepshow spinning multiple tales of terror across movie and television screens. One company whose name became synonymous with the horror anthology was Amicus Productions, formed in 1962 by producers Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, who had previously collaborated on the 1960 film Horror Hotel (aka City of the Dead). Their initial offerings were the low budget musicals It's Trad, Dad (1962) and Just for Fun (1963), both of which were quite successful in the UK. It's Trad, Dad (1962) was the big-screen debut of director Richard Lester, who went on to helm A Hard Day's Night.

Subotsky was a long-time fan of the horror genre, and one of his favorites was Dead of Night (1945), a well-regarded British film which featured five tales of the supernatural. After working as a writer on the TV series Lights Out, he decided to pen his own horror anthology, and had originally planned to produce a weekly show featuring eerie tales of terror. That project later became the Amicus film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, a 1965 thriller starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Michael Gough. In the film, Cushing portrays Dr. Schreck (aka Dr. Terror), a mysterious man who joins five others aboard a train which is heading from London to the town of Bradley. It's a train ride that none of them are ever going to forget!

To pass the time on their journey, Dr. Schreck offers to use his tarot cards to foretell the future of his fellow passengers. This leads to five offbeat and eerie tales of werewolves, killer vines, voodoo, vampires, and a vengeful disembodied hand. What the passengers don't know is that their fates have already been sealed, and there's a lot more to Dr. Schreck than meets the eye. Though the individual stories vary in quality, the movie is a lot of fun. Cushing, Lee, and Gough are all terrific in their roles, and there are some other familiar faces in the cast as well, including Bernard Lee (best known as "M" in the James Bond series) and Donald Sutherland, who was just at the beginning of his long career. The movie was directed by Freddie Francis, the celebrated cinematographer of The Innocents (1961) and The Elephant Man (1980), who also helmed a number of horror films for both Amicus and Hammer in the 1960s and 1970s

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors set the tone for six other anthology films released by Amicus, including The House That Dripped Blood (1970), Tales From The Crypt (1972), and The Vault of Horror (1973). While the studio released a number of full-length science-fiction, fantasy and horror films, including The Skull (1965), Scream and Scream Again (1970), and The Land That Time Forgot (1974), they were best known for their anthology movies, which always featured all-star casts, including actors like Joan Collins, Ralph Richardson, Donald Pleasance, and future Drs. Who Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors is available to stream on services such as Tubi, and has also been released on DVD and Blu-ray. Here's a look at the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpfRzcOFnwA.