Young Sherlock Holmes (also known in the UK and Australia as Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear) is a 1985 theatrical release mystery adventure film directed by Berry Levinson, executive produced by Steven Spielberg under his company Amblin Entertainment, and written by Chris Columbus. The film is an original stand alone story of how Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson met as schoolboys and had their first mystery together and not based on any of the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.. Released by Paramount Pictures on December 4, 1985, the film received mixed reviews and underperformed at the Box Office making only $19 million on a $18 million budget. On a brighter note, the film's visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic earn a Academy Award nomination and Bruce Broughton's music score won a Saturn Award and earn a Grammy nomination.
Similar to Gremlins (another Amblin production written by Columbus), Christmas is seen throughout the film as characters were seen singing Christmas carols, selling chestnuts on the streets, and giving Christmas presents.
Plot
Teenagers Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet and become good friends as students at Brompton Academy, a school in London. Watson is introduced to Elizabeth Hardy, who is Holmes' love interest. He is also introduced to Rupert T. Waxflatter, Elizabeth's uncle, a retired Brompton professor and inventor, Master Snelgrove, the chemistry teacher, Mrs. Dribb, the school's nurse, and Professor Rathe, the fencing instructor who warns Holmes that he is too emotional and impulsive.
Meanwhile, a mysterious hooded figure uses a blowpipe to shoot Bentley Bobster and Reverend Duncan Nesbitt with hallucinogenic thorns, causing the men to experience nightmare-like hallucinations (Bobster thinks to be attacked by a cooked bird and by his own possessions, while Nesbitt thinks he sees a stained-glass figure of a knight come to life and try to kill him), resulting in their deaths by jumping out of a window and being run over by a carriage. Holmes suspects foul play about the murders, which were presumed to be suicides, but is rebuffed by Scotland Yard policeman Lestrade when he suggests a connection between the deaths. Holmes is later expelled from Brompton after getting framed for cheating by his rival, Dudley. As Holmes reluctantly prepares to leave, Waxflatter is shot with a hallucinogenic thorn and accidentally stabs himself while trying to fend off imaginary gremlins. As Waxflatter dies, he whispers the word "Eh-Tar" to Holmes.
Holmes secretly meets with Watson and Elizabeth and begins his investigation into the murders. During their investigation, the trio uncover the existence of Rame Tep, an ancient Egyptian cult of Osiris worshippers. The cult's main weapons were blowpipes, which were used to shoot thorns dipped into a solution made of plant and root extracts which, when injected into the bloodstream, causes the victim to experience realistic, nightmare-like hallucinations. Holmes, Watson, and Elizabeth then track the cult to a London warehouse, where the Rame Tep are performing human sacrifices in a secret underground wooden pyramid-shaped temple. After they interrupt their sacrifice of a young woman, the Rame Tep members pursue the trio and shoot them with thorns, but the three manage to escape into a cemetery. They begin to experience hallucinations (Elizabeth being buried alive by her uncle, Watson being force-fed by sentient pastries, and Holmes seeing his father angry for him telling his mother of his unfaithfulness and later seeing a real Rame Tep member as his father trying to kill him), but they survive. Holmes, Watson and Elizabeth are later reprimanded by Lestrade, who still dismisses Holmes' deductions. Holmes leaves him several poison thorns for analysis, and Lestrade pricks his finger on them as he tries to brush them off his desk.
The following evening, at Waxflatter's loft, Holmes and Watson discover a picture of the three victims and a fourth man, Chester Cragwitch, who is the remaining victim. However, they are discovered by Professor Rathe and Mrs. Dribb, who plan to expel Watson and Elizabeth in the morning. That night, while Elizabeth heads to Waxflatter's loft to salvage his work, Holmes and Watson head to see Cragwitch, who explains that in his youth, he and the other men had discovered an underground pyramid of Rame Tep and the ancient tombs of five Egyptian princesses while building a hotel in Egypt. Their find led to an angry uprising by the people of a nearby village, which was violently put down by the British Army. The men returned safely to England. However, a local boy of Anglo-Egyptian descent named Eh-Tar and his sister vowed revenge against them after their parents were killed in the attack, and also seeking to replace the bodies of the five Egyptian princesses. Cragwitch is then shot by a poisoned thorn and tries to kill Holmes, but is knocked unconscious by Lestrade, who reconsidered Holmes' advice after he had suffered the hallucinations himself.
As they return to the school, a chance remark by Watson causes Holmes to realize that Eh-Tar is none other than Professor Rathe, but he and Watson arrive too late to stop him and Mrs. Dribb, who is revealed to be Eh-Tar's sister, from abducting Elizabeth. Using Waxflatter's latest invention, a flying machine, Holmes and Watson travel to the warehouse just in time to prevent Eh-Tar from sacrificing Elizabeth as the fifth and final "princess". They accidentally burn down the Rame Tep pyramid, killing several cult members, and Mrs. Dribb is shot through her own blopipe by Holmes and catches fire in her panic. Eh-Tar escapes with Elizabeth and Holmes is knocked unconscious but Watson saves them both, destroying Eh-Tar's carriage by attaching a chandelier chain to it, in order to lift an unconscious Holmes out of the burning temple. Eh-Tar tries to shoot Holmes, but Elizabeth intervenes and takes the hit instead. Enraged, Holmes duels Eh-Tar and finally manages to get the better of him when Eh-Tar falls into the frozen River Thames, presumably to his demise. Holmes returns to Elizabeth's side and holds her as she dies.
Afterwards, attending Elizabeth's funeral, Holmes decides to transfer to another school to get his mind off Elizabeth. As he exchanges goodbyes with Watson, Holmes explained how he deduced the identity of Eh-Tar. Watson also points out that "Rathe" is "Eh-Tar" spelled backwards, a clue that Holmes failed to notice. Watson gives Holmes a pipe as a Christmas and farewell present. As Holmes leaves in his new detective outfit, Watson's older self (the Narrator) expresses that he was certain he would have more adventures at Holmes' side.
In the post-credits scene, Eh-Tar is revealed to be alive; he checks himself into an Alpine inn with a new name, "Moriarty".
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