In The Moscow Slums (STD Blu-ray)

The latest film from acclaimed director Karen Shakhnazarov (ZEROGRAD and THE ASSASSIN OF THE TSAR, both released by Deaf Crocodile and Seagull Films) is a tremendously entertaining historical detective mystery adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s \u201CThe Sign of Four\u201D and the writings of famed Russian journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky -- but in place of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the film features two real-life figures from Russian history. In Moscow in 1902, legendary actor and theater director Konstantin Stanislavski (Konstantin Kryukov) is struggling to understand the life of slum dwellers for his latest production of Gorky's \""The Lower Depths\"" -- so he turns to journalist Gilyarovsky (Mikhail Porechenkov) who takes him on a guided tour of the Khitrovka district, pretty much Moscow's version of Whitechapel circa Jack the Ripper. There, they stumble across the bizarre murder of a chess playing friend of Gilyarovsky's called The Rajah and cross paths with a stunningly A