Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)

Director: Paul Morrissey

Writers: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Paul Morrissey, Arthur Conan Doyle

Composer:  Dudley Moore

Starring: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Spike Milligan, Prunella Scales, Roy Kinnear, Kenneth Williams, Terry-Thomas, Hugh Griffith, Joan Greenwood, Denholm Elliott, Penelope Keith, Dana Gillespie, Irene Handl

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  You'll piss yourself laughing!

Plot: A Sherlock Holmes spoof about a family that has been haunted for years by the curse of a horrible hound.



My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Ugh.  I'm being generous giving this a 6 but it's got such an incredibly talented cast and there's a lot to like.  But the problem is it's sooooooooo slow and there's a lot of jokes that don't land or land flat.  Dudley Moore's nasal voice doesn't help.  Why he just didn't go with his normal voice is beyond me.  He's playing a cartoon character.  Kenneth Williams can get away with it because his face works well with it and he's playing an aristocrat.  Having a funny voice can work but not this time.  This isn't all to say Moore isn't funny.  He is, especially when he's playing Sherlock's mother.  Hilarious.  Moore also wrote the score, which is rather neat, styled after early silent movies.  Neat.  Penelope Keith is soooooo hot!  I love that broad!


One of the funniest bits was Denholm Elliott's chihuahua pissing for about a minute and a half.




Hilarious, and it got even funnier when he held the dog to water the flowers under the window.  I think the trailer is very funny (the original, not the one embedded above) but it's a shame that so many great gags get mired in a film that drags on and on with a lot of unfunny.  Still, you couldn't keep me from watching this movie, knowing all of this and watching the trailer.  I'd have to find out for myself.  The MGM DVD sports a great looking anamorphic widescreen print and trailer (also A-wide) but that's all for extras.



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