Based on an an adaptation of Peter Ackroyd's 1994 murder mystery novel Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem director Juan Carlos Medina offers an old-school Hammer-style horror anchored by performances by subtle Bill Nighy (who took up the reigns from the late Alan Rickman), Olivia Cooke (of Bates Motel), Eddie Marsan and Daniel Mays. But it's Douglas Booth as Leno who steels the show.
All the familiar Gothic Victorian elements and crime story beats are there reminiscent of A Study in Terror and countless other yarns and clichés set in the period which are more than likely inherited from Ackroyds source material. Set on the unforgiving, squalid streets of Victorian London in 1880, Jane Goldman's script captures the Lizzy Borden and Jack the Ripper talk of the time, but where 2015's comparable Frankenstein Chronicles series had a filmactic feel this is sorely lacking in Limehouse Golem given it's made for TV look despite a theatrical release. That said the costumes, makeup and music are spot on as Nighy's Kildare goes effortlessly about piecing the case together aided by some bloody flashbacks and spectres in his mind. There's a little nihilistic twist which peaks interest showing that the conscious of life isn't black and white especially when it comes to work politics, promotion and fame.
Overall, it has some gruesome elements and while it may not work as a whodunit reaching heights of In the Name of the Rose, Agatha Christie or a Sherlock Holmes mystery it satisfies as an unconventional immersive period piece in the vain of countless Ripper-like outings. Worth checking out even if for Booth's memorable performance.
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