Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde

U.K. / 1971 Directed by Roy Ward Baker Starring Ralph Bates Martine Beswick Gerald Sim Color / 96 Minutes / Not Rated Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC) Anchor Bay Entertainment

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Screenwriter/co-producer Brian Clemens (TV's The Avengers, Captain Kronos — Vampire Hunter) gives the old Jekyll and Hyde tale a fresh, gender-bending twist in this above-average Hammer offering.     In 1880s London, the brilliant young Dr. Jekyll (Horror Of Frankenstein's Ralph Bates) is obsessed with perfecting an "elixir of life", a formula that extends the human life span beyond its biological limits. His every waking hour is dedicated to research. Living as a virtual hermit in his laboratory apartment, Jekyll has little time for old friend Prof. Robertson (Sim) or the new tenant in the upstairs flat, the pretty and virginal Susan Spencer (Susan Broddrick). He makes a breakthrough using female hormones, derived from glands taken from the corpses of women. Jekyll's supply of the these is provided by infamous real-life graverobbers Burke and Hare, transplanted from Scotland to England — not to mention 60 years or so forward in time — for the purposes of this story. (See The Flesh And The Fiends for a somewhat more accurate account of their crimes.) But when Burke and Hare are both killed by an angry mob, Jekyll is forced to procure the needed glands himself... The mentally unstable doctor rationalizes that he must now take life in order to preserve it. He begins stalking the seedy, gin-soaked district of Whitechapel at night, knifing prostitutes for the required ingredient. Soon the police and populace are on the lookout for the "Whitechapel Murderer" — the infamous Jack the Ripper, of course, though Clemens' script never refers to the legendary serial killer as such.*     Jekyll faces a quandary. If he keeps up his killing spree he's bound to be caught. As luck would have it his experiments provide the prefect alibi. Trying the elixir on himself, Jekyll is astounded when it transforms him into a beautiful woman! "Sister Hyde" (Prehistoric Women's Martine Beswick) not only embodies the feminine aspects of Jekyll's personality but also his darkest, baser instincts. (The guy's already a murderer, though.) More motivated than he is to harvest the needed glands, she makes the doctor's nocturnal rounds in Whitechapel, slicing up more streetwalkers. Since the police are searching for a male suspect she won't possibly be suspected. But Sister Hyde proves to have the more dominant personality of the two entities — she starts taking over Jekyll's body at the most inopportune moments...     Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde might seem stodgy to some but I enjoyed it. Script, acting and direction all add a sheen of class to the proceedings. Clemens and director Roy Ward Baker (Scars Of Dracula) don't let an obviously meager budget (most evident in the film's paucity of sets) and potentially lurid subject matter become excuses for tawdry exploitation filmmaking. By examining the Jekyll-Hyde tale's clichéd good (in this case, sort of "good") vs. evil struggle through the prism of gender, the story opens up an interesting can of worms indeed. This is underscored by the fine performances of Bates and Beswick, who — though they only resemble each other in a general sense — really make the transformation believable. Trash Cinema fans will doubtless be bored stiff with the film's mostly off-camera slayings and relative lack of nudity (though Beswick does disrobe). If you happen to fall into that camp then you're better off avoiding most of the Hammer flicks anyway. I firmly occupy both camps, and found this one entertaining.

* Having literature's infamous Dr. Jekyll also be Jack the Ripper does add a novel bit of spin. But the inclusion of the Burke and Hare characters seems like Clemens was starting to chuck anything in the blender he could get his hands on.

Released in tandem with Lust For A Vampire, Anchor Bay's Hammer Collection edition of Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde slits up a similar treat for fans of the studio's myriad horror films. This is the best looking version of the film ever utilized for home video; its widescreen presentation is anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 TVs. (Keep in mind this is a rather fogbound tale.) Clear and free of hiss or distortion, the digital mono audio track is first-rate. Extras include the British theatrical trailer, two American radio spots (which make the movie sound like much more of an exploitation film than it really is; see the MP3 link above), talent bios, and a montage of publicity stills, posters and lobby cards set to the score's main theme. Hammer fans will delight in the full-fledged audio commentary, which features Clemens, Baker and Sister Hyde herself, Martine Beswick. It's a collegial, good-natured chat (again moderated by Hammer scholar Marcus Hearn) involving people genuinely fond of the film being discussed. 12/16/01

UPDATE This DVD went OOP in 2006 (and is currently fetching up to $60 used).

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