THE SHERLOCK HOLMES VAULT COLLECTION On Blu-ray From The Film Detective

 

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES VAULT COLLECTION is a new Blu-ray set from The Film Detective company, and it contains four films featuring the great detective that were made in the 1930s. Three of the films were made in England, and star Arthur Wontner as Holmes: SHERLOCK HOLMES' FATAL HOUR (aka THE SLEEPING CARDINAL) released in 1931, THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1935), and SILVER BLAZE (aka MURDER AT THE BASKERVILLES) which was made in 1937. 

The other film in the set was made in America, at the low-budget Tiffany Studios. A STUDY IN SCARLET (1933) stars Reginald Owen as one of the most unlikely Sherlocks ever. 

All four films get their own disc case, and each cover features artwork from the particular film's original advertising. A card included in every disc case also features advertising artwork, and each disc has a small booklet pertaining to each film. 

Each movie gets a collection of extras, which I have to say have a bit of a grab-bag quality to them. Some of the extras included are silent films featuring Sherlock Holmes (or at least a satirical version of the character), an interview with independent producer Sam Sherman (which is in three parts, spread out on the Arthur Wontner movies), and brand new audio commentaries for each film. The discs are marked Region Free. 

I have noticed in the publicity for this set that the films contained in it have been called rare. The thing is, all four of the features can be found on YouTube. The set box claims that the films are newly restored. I've so far viewed only two of them--SHERLOCK HOLMES' FATAL HOUR and A STUDY IN SCARLET--and I have to say that the visual and audio quality is not very good. 

I'll go into more detail about how the individual films look and sound when I write blog posts on each individual disc, which I plan to do in the near future. 

I will give The Film Detective credit on trying to do something different with a quartet of films that have had several public domain home video releases, but so far I wouldn't put this set on the same level as ones put together by Arrow or Severin. Look for my reviews on each film in this set in the next couple weeks.