THE SPIDER WOMAN 1944 (MPI)

One of the best of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are again Holmes and Watson respectively in this very good entry in the series from Universal.

A bizarre string of "Pajama Murders" is gripping London and Holmes fakes his own death to bring the killer out into the open. It turns out that a woman is using spiders to drive her victims to suicide.

The scene where one is planted in Holmes bedroom is creepy and very well done. It is the one scene I will never forget. Gale Sondergaard is the Spider Woman and she does an excellent job of it. She would go on to reprise this role two years later in an unrelated film.

The climax has Holmes tied to a Hitler replica in a shooting gallery. Good fun from Universal. The rest of the cast includes Dennis Hoey, Gene Roth and Mary Gordon.