Sherlock Holmes (Roberty Downey Jr.) - Horror? Yes.

@screamingtreefrogs

Thanks!

A few things bothered me about Downey's performance. First of all, he didn't particularly convince me that he was English. I'm not so much a stickler that I demand that an English actor play Holmes, but--if not--he must do a very good job of convincing me.

Connected with that, perhaps, is that Holmes is above all a gentleman. A Bohemian, moody one, to be sure, but he's not a moping sociopath or a provocateur. Rather, he believes in honesty, decency, chivalry, and fair-play--long held principles of order and justice. Basil Rathbone's performance leaned towards the gentlemanly side; Jeremy Brett's performance had the remarkable ability to manage both sides; and most modern portrayals reverse the Rathbone and lean toward the moodiness and addictiveness. (I should note that the cocaine addiction plays remarkably little role in the stories--hardly any outside of The Sign of the Four.)

Third, and most troubling of all, Holmes is not a superhero or an action hero. I know that what seem trite, but it's essential to the character; make him into James Bond, and you're dealing with an utterly different character (and I love Bond, so that's no criticism, just a recognition of differences). Now, that's not to say that there can be no action in the film, but the Ritchie film seems to see Holmes as a wisecracking 18th century version of a Marvel hero--which is simply a bastardization of the character.

I really like the movie; I think it's fun and clever, and it gets a positive rating from me; my only quibble is the Downey performance. Hope that helps to explain it.

Awww that’s so sweet of you. 

@screamingtreefrogs

Yes, indeed, I'm a huge Poe fan; "The Fall of the House of Usher" is always one of my go-to horror classics every Hallowe'en, along with The Haunting of Hill House and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." If I may recommend a few other great writers... Lovecraft, certainly, and some other classic writers: M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, E.F. Benson, and Robert Aickman. You may also like mystery writer John Dickson Carr, who imbued his novels with a heavy horror vibe. ("Let there be a spice of terror," he wrote, "of dark skies and evil things.") The Burning Court, one of his best works, brilliantly unites horror and mystery and has one of the great "shock!" conclusions I know.

lol I can't tewll if we are all trolling one another or what at all.