AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
Unlimitedia
Sick Product of a Sick System
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
TheLittleSongbird
Am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and get a lot of enjoyment out of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Also love Basil Rathbone's and especially Jeremy Brett's interpretations to death. So would naturally see any Sherlock Holmes adaptation that comes my way, regardless of its reception.'The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire' is the last of four Hallmark adaptations with Matt Frewer as Holmes. Don't care for any of the four, with 'The Sign of Four' being especially disappointing, but ranking the four 'The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire' is perhaps the best. Like with 'The Royal Scandal', it at least doesn't have the dubious distinction of not doing classic stories justice. Again, Kenneth Welsh is the best thing about 'The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire' and the only good actor in the film. He is an excellent Watson and more the faithful interpretation of a loyal and intelligent Watson and not the bumbling buffoon for comic relief purposes. Cary Lawrence is also decent. Found some of the locations suitably atmospheric and parts of the music eerie. However, my negative feelings on Frewer's Holmes continues to remain unchanged. He is far too manic and eccentric, with too much of an over-emphasis on hammy humour in places, and his rapport with Watson too abrasive and borderline bullying. The rest of the cast struggle, especially Neville Edwards playing Chagras as too much of a cartoonish caricature and Michel Perron over-acting just as much as he did in 'The Sign of Four' and with an even more inconsistent, risible accent. Despite being the best generally of the four films, 'The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire' is one of the weaker-looking ones too. Too much of it looks static and cheap, with only some of the sets appealing. Moreover, 'The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire' has a lack of tension and suspense and is pretty dull, the pedestrian direction not helping. It further suffers from being somewhat over-stuffed, too many various and different ideas cobbled together and it just feels muddled and disjointed. The denouement is far too rushed and doesn't make much sense as a result, while the dialogue lacks intrigue and subtlety.Overall, far from irredeemable but lacking in a lot of lustre. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Leofwine_draca
That this 2002 Canadian TV movie is based on a made-up Holmes story rather than a canon one should be a warning in itself; this turns out to be a schlocky and entirely befuddled production that has little to do with the original stories. Purists will no doubt find themselves outraged by the antics of the producers, which reduce the story elements to their most basic level.The rest of us are left amused by a film which comes across as a cheesy B-movie instead of a classy Holmes adaptation. The entire story is set in what looks like a medieval monastery, with the sweaty monks at the mercy of a vampire killer. Wait until you see the costume! It's all very silly and of course nothing like the real Holmes.Matt Frewer starred as the Victorian sleuth in four of these movies and he portrays the detective as an upper class twit. Let's just say that his acting is entertaining for all the wrong reasons. I'm not sure why North Americans have to put on an affected RP accent every time they play a Brit; it's a bit like a Brit supposing that all Americans speak in Southern drawls, which couldn't be further from the truth. Anyway, THE CASE OF THE WHIECHAPEL VAMPIRE is a mess, but also still marginally better than the appalling BBC production of SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING with Rupert Everett.
ctyankee1
2002 The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire Sherlock Holmes investigates a series of death rumored to be caused by a vampire. He makes fun of religion right off. He claims he is agnostic. A religious brother invites Sherlock to investigate a vampire who is killing church members a Whitechapel. The brother claims to be a man of god but he has a storage room of all kinds of statues to other gods and liberal attitudes. So contradictory. The costumes of the sisters and brothers look terrible compared with others. To add more insult the religious brother that is killed is said to have fallen on a Cross and that is how he got bleeding neck injuries. In this movie a man who played in the Sign of Four- Inspector Jones is someone who is easy to dislike. He hates Sherlock he is loud and angry when he talks. He is just another actor over acting to make an impression.This movie was better then the Sign of Four. There was not a whole lot of nonsense in it. I was very surprised with the ending. Sherlock loses his pipe which is way to long but at the end through some miracle gets it returned by a person named "Mr Church".Watson tried to convince Sherlock to believe in a fortune tellers prediction. That was a downer for me but I am not surprised Arthur Doyle believed in mediums, spiritualist etc. He went to Catholic schools but did not practice his faith.So like my mother would say "Consider the source."
Paul Andrews
The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire sees Sherlock Holmes (Matt Frewer) & his trusty assistant Dr. Watson (Kenneth Welsh) tackle yet another baffling mystery. Holmes receives a letter from a Brother Marstoke (Shawn Lawrence) asking for his help in the murder of Brother Sinclair (Norris Domingue) who appears to have been murdered by a Vampire. Holmes takes the case & discovers that while on missionary work in Guiana Brother Marstoke has encountered such Vampiric killings before, both Brother Lee & Thomas had fallen victim. Brother Marstoke thinks that a 'demon' of some sort is responsible & has followed him back to London to continue it's killing spree. Inspector Jones (Julian Casey) & Scotland Yard are clueless so Holmes begins his investigations & quickly finds a long list of suspects like Dr. Chagas (Neville Edwards) whom is Scotland Yards number one suspect & who both studies & adores Vampire bats & to further add suspicion has had run-ins with Marstoke before, but surely there's more to it than that? As the bodies continue to pile up Holmes must cut through the superstition to find the truth & unmask the killer!This Canadian produced feature length made for TV Sherlock Holmes mystery was written & directed by Rodney Gibbons this was one of four TV films by Gibbons to feature Frewer as Holmes apparently filmed for CTV television, first was The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000) then The Sign of Four (2001) after that came The Royal Scandal (2001) & finally this, the only one not adapted from an existing Holmes mystery. The script isn't overly complex or involving but it passes an hour & a half reasonably enough. It's a simple tale & isn't exactly edge of your seat stuff but it remains watchable, it entertains & at least I wanted to stick with it right trough to the end to find out the killers identity. The character's are as you would expect, Holmes is totally brilliant in every way, Watson is his slightly slow sidekick, the police are bumbling idiots & there are many people whom seem to enjoy acting suspiciously while a murder investigation is taking place. The final reveal & the killers motives are a little unadventurous & not entirely satisfying. Technically The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire is rather lame, the cast & crew obviously never went anywhere near Lonon & probably never set foot outside Canada which hardly gives the film an authentic feel or look, basically the whole atmosphere of a grimy Whitechapel just isn't there. It's painfully obvious that it was made for TV with bland static photography, a small cast, limited sets with little period detail & cheap production values throughout. Now a word about the casting, namely Matt Frewer as Holmes. Can you believe it? Isn't Holmes meant to be English? After you get over the initial surprise he ain't too bad actually & overacts with the best of them, in fact I started to quite like him by the end amazingly. Everyone else is bland & forgettable although Welsh as Watson is pretty good while Edwards as Chagas is pretty awful. Overall The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire is a passable made for TV murder mystery that entertains to an extent, I doubt anyone will want to watch it more than once though so try & catch it on TV for free, which is where it belongs to be perfectly honest. Worth a watch if your a mystery fan & there's nothing else on.
