Muse in demonic Sherlock Holmes caper

Cameras set to roll on The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire, the latest Sherlock Holmes telemovie from Canadian production outfit Muse Entertainment.

The project is being produced by Muse in association with Hallmark Entertainment in the US, and will be shooting in Muse’s hometown of Montreal from November 25 to December 21, 2001.

Muse has produced three earlier Holmes films with Hallmark including: The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Sign of Four and The Royal Scandal.

In this latest Sherlock Holmes caper, the famed detective is up against a supernatural band of demons, and for the first time, he begins to doubt his own mental powers.

Director Rodney Gibbons, who also wrote this screenplay, describes the movie as a dark and moody murder mystery. {Every shot, every line and every scene is designed to create relentless tension and complications,{ he says.

Gibbons took considerable licence in writing the original script, as it is not based on any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writings. However he tried to stay true to the characters of Holmes and his right hand man, Dr Watson.

{The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire represents the quintessential Sherlock Holmes story that Conan Doyle never wrote,{ says Muse Entertainment president, Michael Prupas. {It has the same unexplainable events, the eccentric characters and the moody, misty settings.{

The telemovie is set in a variety of exotic locales, including an Anglican mission, tropical Guyana and London, circa 1890.

The main characters of Holmes and Watson are accompanied by a colourful cast including a band of zealous monks, an expert on vampire bats, a clairvoyant, Guyanese servants and the usual Scotland Yard detectives.

Matt Frewer (Kisssinger & Nixon, Apollo II) stars as Sherlock Holmes, while Watson is played by Kenneth Welsh (Margaret's Museum, Twin Peaks). Michael Prupas is executive producing, and Irene Litinsky, also of Muse Entertainment is producing.