The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire

Year: 2002

Actors: Kenneth Welsh, Matt Frewer

Duration: 90 min

Someone... or something... is killing the monks at the abbey in Whitechapel, and Sherlock Holmes [Matt Frewer] and Dr Watson [Kenneth Welsh] have been called to investigate. Rumor is that it's the work of a vampire brought back from a recent mission in Guiana. In all cases, the victims have been found with two large puncture wounds on their necks. On the wall, written in blood, is usually a message like "As you have sinned against me, so shall I exact my revenge."Brother Marstoke [Shawn Larence] believes that the killings might be retribution from Desmodo, a fiercesome demon from South America who usually appears as a giant vampire bat. He explains that, while in Guiana, he had a falling out with Dr Chagas over the killing of a colony of bats, which Marstoke was led to believe carried a plague. Hector de la Rosa [Danny Blanco Hall] actually saw the killer and confirms that it had the face of Desmodo, just as depicted in a statue of Desmodo in Marstoke's collection of South American gods and demons that he brought back from Guiana.The next morning, Holmes and Watson go right to work. The first thing they do is speak with Sra de la Rosa [Isabel Dos Santos] , who was the one to discover the first body. When they mention the name of Dr Chagas, Sra de la Rosa tightens in fear. She considers Chagas a 'vampiro' because of his work with vampire bats. As Sra de la Rosa, in a whispered voice, tells Holmes about Chagas, the ground suddenly starts to tremble. An omen?Next is to investigate the church premises. Holmes checks out the crypt. Nothing there except for a colony of bats hanging from the ceiling. Upon these discoveries and the knowledge that the abbey doors were locked at the time of the killings, Holmes deduces that the killer may be in the abbey itself. That evening, he calls a meeting of all the brothers and sisters and asks for the names of those who were on the Guiana mission (Marstoke, Brother Caulder, Brother Sinclair (one of the first to die), Brother John, Brother Abel, Sister Helen, and Sister Margaret) as the killings began just after their return. Holmes wonders whether or not there is some connection. He also advises everyone, whether or not they were on the mission, to be extremely careful and to never go anywhere alone.Unfortunately, Abel [Tom Rack] has been left alone to sleep as he has been ill since returning from Guiana. Holmes, Watson and Marstoke rush to Abel's bedroom where they find Hector comforting a terrified Abel, who says that he was awakened by a big, dark thing that tried to bite him but flew out the window when he screamed. Watson looks out the window, but it is too dark to see anything.Next on the list of investigations is for Watson to get an analysis of the blood used in the writing on the wall while Holmes talks with "vampiro" Chagas, who has taken lodging at 4, Renfield Place in Whitechapel. It turns out that Chagas [Neville Edwards] is a naturalist who studies bats. He calls them his "children," which caused many in Guiana to think of him as a "vampiro". Even the Whitechapel locals think Chagas is the vampire, since he is known to roam the streets at night. Indeed, only a few minutes after speaking with Chagas, Holmes observes him leaving his flat.It is now 9:15 pm, and Sr Helen [Cary Lawrence] and Bro John [Matthew Tiffin] are leaving one of their charities to return to the abbey when Helen (who is blind) hears moaning in an alley. John goes to help and is attacked by Desmodo. Desmodo then turns on Helen, but she is saved when someone enters the alley and chases away her attacker. Unfortunately, John is dead, with two holes in his neck.The next morning, Holmes goes to investigate the alley where the killing took place. When Holmes finds out that Inspector Jones has arrested Chagas as the killer, on the basis that he was seen leaving his flat last night just before the killing and he returned with blood on his gloves, Holmes poopoohs the idea since he was with Chagas until shortly after 9, after which he observed Chagas leaving several minutes later and going north to Whitecastle Road. Since the killing took place on Demeter Street, in the opposite direction, no one could backtrack and cover that distance in 10 minutes... unless he could fly. Jones isn't convinced but does agree to have the blood analyzed. Just then, Jones discovers that Chagas has escaped through an open window.Holmes and Watson go to investigate Bro John's body. Watson notices something peculiar about the two holes on his neck... there are no marks from the lower teeth. Either the wounds were made by someone missing a lower mandible, he deduces, or they were made by some other means.Next is to interview Sr Helen, but first they stop to see how Abel is faring after the fright he received last night. He's quite well and is working on a model of the hermitage and has no further information to offer. Meanwhile, Marstoke is praying in the church when the ground starts to shake again. An earthquake? And Sr Helen doesn't have any idea how anyone in the abbey might have sinned against anyone else, either gods or humans. All she can remember about her attack is hearing a groaning and a sound like something scraping and then smelling a slightly pungent, oily odor as the killer approached her.Now to interview Brother Caulder [Joel Miller] but he has gone to visit his sister, the psychic known as Madame Karavsky [Kathleen Fee]. She is attempting to get insights about the killings from objects her brother has brought her. Holmes puts no stock in her insights, but he does learn that Caulder considers Chagas to be the devil's disciple and sees Marstoke's collection of artifacts as sacrilegious. Caulder also tells Holmes that it was Brother Abel who pinpointed the bats as the source of the plague and insisted on their irradication, a contradiction of what Marstoke told Holmes... that it was he (Marstoke) who had insisted on irradicating the bats.On his way back to the abbey, Holmes is pushed into the path of trotting horses but manages to roll away just in time to see a black-cloaked figure running away. Shortly thereafter, Watson, who is walking around the church, sees a hooded figure sneak in through the crypt door. Watson follows and comes upon Caulder just returning from his sister's house. Watson inquires as to whether he always uses the crypt door, but Caulder claims that he came in through the front door, an alibi that Hector confirms.So many suspects, so little evidence, but Holmes is beginning to see a thread. Still, a little verification is in order. First a visit to Abel who is putting the finishing paint to his model. Then, a visit to Chagas... but not to his flat, rather, to an old house where he nurtures his colony of endangered bats. Just as Holmes says he can clear Chagas' name, however, Inspector Jones raids the house and arrests them both.Back at the abbey, Watson gets a note from Holmes regarding his arrest and the fact that he can do no more while he is incarcerated. Marstoke decides that the only thing left is to leave the abbey in hopes of taking the curse with him. He intends to spend the night in prayer and leave the next morning. As Marstoke prays, Desmodo attacks him. What ho! It is not Marstoke praying; it is Holmes. Just as Inspector Jones shows up, guns drawn, the ground begins to tremble again and a large statue falls on Desmodo, killing him. Holmes removes the Desmodo mask to reveal Brother Abel. He is also wearing a glove with a garden claw in the palm, which Holmes names as the implement used to puncture the necks of his victims.In the epilogue, Watson explains that the earthquake that saved Holmes was actually a subsidence due to an extension of the Underground which is being constructed right under the abbey. Holmes tells how, when Inspector Jones learned that the blood on Chagas' glove was bat blood, not human blood, he agreed to help Holmes in his little deception. With regards to whether Chagas argued with Marstoke or Abel regarding the irradication of the bats, Chagas says that it was both. First Abel insisted on their irradication. Marstoke took up the argument only after Abel was stricken with the plague.How did Holmes know it was Abel? Holmes explains that he saw Abel drinking tea with his left hand and, because the writing on the wall slanted to the left, Abel became the prime suspect. Also, the pungent, oily smell that Sr Helen smelled was confirmed as the same odor as the paint Abel was using for his model. Finally, the sight of a gardener with a two-pronged garden tool confirmed Holmes' suspicion that a metal implement made the scratching that Sr Helen heard and was also used to make the holes in his victims' necks. And, thus, the Whitechapel vampire was laid to rest.[Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]

Genre: Mystery   Thriller