The House of Fear (1945)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 1, 2022

"Holmes" and "Watson" are chewing the fat in Baker St. when an insurance fellow comes to visit. He is puzzled by the unexplained deaths of some old folks living together at a remote Scottish castle. The thing is, each deceased person leaves the total value of their life policy to the remainder of the group. Their interest piqued, off they head to the home of the rather dotty "Mr. Alastair" (Aubrey Mather) where they discover that before the deaths of each of their "Good Comrades", that person had received an envelope containing orange pips. Messrs. Rathbone and Bruce, alongside a sterling effort from Dennis Hoey as the typically hapless "Insp. Lestrade" and the usual stalwarts from the series - Paul Cavanagh and Harry Cording all keep this enjoyable murder(s) mystery ticking along nicely with plenty of red herrings and spooky goings-on. Great fun.