I had to look up this film after seeing From Hell, whose plot is almost an identical twin to this film, replacing Holmes with Abberline. Christopher Plummer is great as Holmes, surpassed only by Jeremy Brett IMHO, and the entire acting cast is fantstic. Victorian England is lovingly recreated and had to be a model for From Hell, which had the advantage of CGI effects and a bigger budget. From Hell could really have used Plummer's passionate speech at the end to the ruling class of London at the time, and the use of the Royal Family/Freemason conspiracy, while in no way accurate, makes for fantastic storytelling. All the subject matter from Ripper lore to the Holmes legend is handled with great respect, and with such a talented acting cast and such a frightening recreation of Victorian London, I highly recommend this film. Be warned, however, at times it's almost as disturbing as From Hell, even though it's not as graphic.
Review of Murder by Decree
