Sexton Blake and his sidekick (whom he actually kicks!) Tinker go on the trail of the Black Quorum, an international criminal organisation, and their supreme leader called The Snake. Also investigating the Quorum is Madamoiselle Julie of the French secret service. Early on in the film it is revealed that The Snake is the famous philatelist Michael Larron, but as he is played by Tod Slaughter he's easy to spot.

Mr. Slaughter gives another fruity performance if you like that kind of flavour and George Curzon and Tony Sympson are adequate as Blake and Tinker. Marie Wright as Mrs Bardell the housekeeper is hilarious. Greta Gynt sparkles as Julie. The best scene was when Blake enters the gambling den and all the players at the long table are dummies. It is surreal and atmospheric. Later on, one of the dummies comes to life....

An engaging 'Boy's Own Paper' kind of film

George King directed a series of Victorian melodramas starring Tod Slaughter in a variety of dastardly roles. This film, also from King, is a little bit different from the others. In it Slaughter again is a gleeful villain but this time he shares billing with the hero of the piece, namely Sexton Blake who is clearly a different version of Sherlock Holmes. The Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone were very popular at the time so perhaps this is not so surprising but the similarities are massive, even extending to both detectives living on the same street! But in any case, this is the lower rent version for sure.

Slaughter is always an entertaining presence and here is no exception. However, because he is not the sole star of the show he doesn't get as much screen time as usual. This means that the film's trump card isn't utilised as well as it could be. Much of the running time is dedicated to the detective story, rather than Slaughter hamming it up big time and that's a shame. For this reason Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror cannot be described as vintage Slaughter. Still, like all the other King/Slaughter films it does have some entertainment value. Unlike those films, this one has a very enigmatic ending, clearly designed as such to allow for future adventures starring the villainous Hooded Terror. Well, these films never materialised so the ending here remains simply a little unusual.