In the mid 80s, audiences were hungry for heroes in the mould of Indiana Jones. Films featuring Sherlock Holmes were quite out-of-fashion. People expected a hero with a bit of dash and a penchant for action; not a meticulous, stuffy, ultra-intelligent sleuth. Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear is an unusual hybrid, because it takes the period trappings of a Holmes mystery and dresses them up with Indy-style action and mysticism.

The story has young student doctor John Watson arriving at a boarding school in Victorian London. He meets, for the very first time, a brilliant young student named Sherlock Holmes and they rapidly become friends. At the same time, a series of bizarre murders have been going on close to the school. In each case, people have had terrible hallucinations and in desperate states of panic have inadvertently killed themselves. Holmes and Watson investigate, and uncover an ancient cult which is responsible for the killings.

The film has its share of problems. For one thing, purists will know that the very first meeting of Holmes and Watson was described at the start of the book A Study in Scarlet, and didn't take place in a school. Some of the performances are overly hammy, particularly Freddie Jones in yet another of his wild-eyed characterisations. The idea of a huge pyramid being ingeniously concealed beneath a London warehouse is hard to swallow (surely someone would have noticed them building a construction of this size in such a tightly-packed city). However, the problems can be forgiven because the film moves at a lively pace and is invested with lots of clever dialogue and stirring action. There's even a touch of humour (something lacking from the original Conan Doyle novels). One scene in particular is most amusing, when young Watson is shot with an hallucinatory dart and imagines an army of living cream buns jumping into his mouth! The climactic duel on the ice is very excitingly staged too. There's also a surprisingly downbeat event at the end which thankfully strips the film of the typical 80s sentimentality. This is agreeable and entertaining stuff.

This amusing movie set in a perfect Victorian atmosphere (1870, England) speculates about what might have happened if Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe) and Doctor Watson (Alex Cox) had met during their student times in London . Holmes falls in love with a beautiful youngster (Sophie Ward) , living with her uncle , a retired professor named Waxflatter (Nigel Stock) . Then , it happens several murders and Holmes helps Inspector Lestrade (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) to resolve it . Later on , young Sherlock performing feats of derring-do in London , including a spectacular flight and dangerous duels . Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not write about the youthful years of Sherlock Holmes , as he established the initial meeting between Holmes and Watson as adults . This affectionate speculation on what might have happened has been made with respect and admiration , knowing references to Sherlock's later existence and in tribute to the author in his enduring Works .

This stirring , fast-paced film is packed with noisy action , adventures , thrills , tension and results to be quite entertaining . It's a genuine ripping yarn with much suspense , intrigue and outstanding surprises . Nicholas Rowe is nice as obstinate and intelligent young Holmes as well as Alex Cox as timid and easy frightened John Watson . Some images are very creepy and eerie and developed in ¨Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom¨ style , for that reason is rated PG-13 for violence and crude scenes . Spectacular special effects by Kit West and Pixar Animation Studios making 'the glass man sequence' and puppets by David Allen . Furthermore visual effects supervisor by Dennis Muren with some of the firsts , images made by means of computer generator . As this one is considered to be the first feature film to have a completely CGI (computer graphics image) character : the knight coming out of the stained glass window . And intervention by Industrial Light & Magic (company run by George Lucas) animated the scene , overseen by John Lasseter in a very early film credit for Pixar . As the "Stained Glass Knight" took Industrial Light & Magic artists 4 months to create . Atmospheric score fitting to action by Bruce Broughton and London symphonic Orchestra . Well written by Chris Columbus and lavishly produced by Steven Spielberg with his usual collaborators , Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy . The picture was well directed by Barry Levinson . Youth and little boys are likely to enjoy this fun film.

The Temple of Doom-flavoured UK title for this Steven Spielberg-produced adventure—Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear—gives a pretty good idea of what can be expected: Sherlock Holmes hasn't got a whip to crack, and a deerstalker replaces the Fedora, but underneath all of the film's Conan Doyle trappings, this is essentially another in a long line of Indiana Jones-inspired movies, complete with a Thuggee-style Egyptian cult murdering people with hallucinogenic blow-darts and performing human sacrifices in their underground pyramid.

As such, Holmes' sleuthing abilities are more than matched by his derring-do, the young detective (ably played by Nicholas Rowe) swashbuckling his way through the film, accompanied by trusty sidekick Watson (Alan Cox) and love interest Elizabeth (Sophie Ward). This being a Spielberg production, Young Sherlock Holmes benefits from great production design (snowy Victorian London looks wonderful) and is heavy on the special effects, with impressive hallucinatory set-pieces involving stop-motion animation, animatronics, and even an early example of CGI (albeit very brief).

If you're a fan of both Sherlock Homes and Indiana Jones, this 'Indiana Holmes' adventure should provide more than enough escapist fun for the duration. 7/10.