The House of Fear (1945)

Members of a rich mans club that meet in a spooky mansion in the Scottish country one by one receive an anonymous letter that contain only orange seeds. Shortly thereafter, they die tragically. Also, they have a spooky housekeeper. Holmes and Watson investigate.

It seems that each member had their life insurance policies changed so that the rest of the club is the beneficiary. Holmes recognizes one as a Doctor who was acquitted for killing his wife, so he becomes the all-too-obvious suspect. The House of Fear is based on but does not at all resemble Doyle’s “The Five Orange Pips”, which is a story and not the name of the world's most caucasian R&B band.

Other than our heroic duo the only recurring character in these films is the incompetent cockney Inspector Lestrade (Dennis Hoey). Why a London cop is investigating a Scottish crime is the real mystery. In all he appears in six episodes. Doctor Suspect is played by Paul Cavanaugh, who made a career of playing dapper Englishman with a questionable past. He’ll be in a couple more of these.

Better than some and sure not to disappoint, but Boy-Howdy am I tired of these films. Time to move on for a while. With six more left, my self-imposed end of year deadline is in question. I shan’t lose sleep over it. October is for Horror and that will begin shortly. But for now, AMRU 3.5. I want a spooky mansion in the Scottish country.