Ralph Bates is Dr. Jekyll, searching for a cure-all who decides that searching for the secret to eternal life would be a much more fruitful pursuit. Unfortunately, whilst it appears that he succeeds (by using hormones from dead chicks!), there’s an unfortunate side effect. Enter Martine Beswick, as Hyde, the serum-derived alter-ego to Bates’ Jekyll. The more overtly evil Hyde decides more bodies must be found to keep up supply. That results in Hyde luring prostitutes and murdering them (ala Jack the Ripper), horrifying the hapless Jekyll who worries about being caught. Gerald Sim is a fellow doctor and concerned confidant of Jekyll.
This Roy Ward Baker flick for Hammer does some interestingly twisty things with the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, especially with its inspired casting of a male Dr. Jekyll and female Hyde, and has some excellent foggy cinematography by Norman Warwick. It even somewhat successfully incorporates the Jack the Ripper murders into the story But once it drags real-life grave-robbers Burke and Hare into the story, it all becomes a bit too much muchness for me and far too similar to ‘Mania”’/’The Flesh and the Fiends’, with Burke and Hare’s participation. The screenplay by Brian Clemens is a bit cluttered and unfocussed.
Bates is perfectly cast as a not terribly likeable Dr. Jekyll, all brooding intensity and aloofness. He acts out the transformation scene excellently, and indeed it’s an interesting scene. Beswick, despite unfortunately scant screen time is spot-on as Hyde. This might actually be one of her most prominent roles, despite not being given much time on screen. She’s a bewitching beauty, and although not as tanned-looking as I’ve seen her, she offers some brief T&A throughout. Yay! Whilst it’s interesting to see Bates with long hair superimposed on Beswick’s body to further emphasise the point, one can’t help but think that Jekyll and Hyde have to be two people. They don’t look overwhelmingly similar, and well, there’s all sorts of anatomical questions that…erm…arise. Hormone replacement tablets perhaps? Nice idea, but best not to think about it too much, I guess.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The cinematography, period detail, novel twists on an old story, and a terrific lead performance are only slightly sullied by one idea too many. And let’s face it, a film overflowing with ideas is preferable to one with no ideas at all.
