Fresh and Exciting

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The early 70s saw a wave of sexual freedom and experimentation, with the LGTB rights movement in full swing and androgynous supermodels and glam rock stars blurring the line between genders; as The Kinks put it in their 1970 hit Lola "Girls will be boys and boys will be girls". Keen to keep up with the times, even British horror studio Hammer got in on the act, giving us the amusingly titled Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971), a gender bending take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.The film stars Ralph Bates as dedicated scientist Dr Jekyll, who attempts to create an elixir of life using hormones taken from female corpses. When the supply of suitable bodies starts to dry up, Jeckyll employs the services of grave-robbers Burke and Hare, but eventually turns to murder to get what he needs, believing that the good that comes from his experiments will outweigh the bad. Jekyll uses himself as guinea pig for his serum, but there is a strange side effect: the subject changes sex! Dr Jekyll turns into the beautiful but deadly Sister Hyde (Martine Beswick), who slowly tries to take control of his (or her) body.It's rather apt, given the nature of the plot, that Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde feels like a case of split personality: on one hand, the film's central theme of sexual duality qualifies it as a rather progressive and daring work, but at the same time, the film is very typical of Hammer's output—a Gothic period piece that delivers many of the recognised clichés of the genre (foggy streets, a shadowy killer, helpless pretty victims etc.), along with a large dose of gore and nudity to avoid alienating the studio's predominantly heterosexual male demographic.Although writer Brian Clemens's unique sex swap theme already guarantees a Jekyll and Hyde tale unlike any other, the inclusion of real-life rogues Burke and Hare, a few sly nods towards the infamous case of Jack the Ripper, and plenty of wry dialogue ("It's a queer business", "You'll be a changed man") all go to make this one even more fun.

This is a very strange variation on the old Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story. In this re-imagining of the Stevenson tale, Jekyll has been trying to create a serum to prolong life and reasoned that as women live longer, it must be something about the hormones. But his experiments allow him to change gender!!! There is no MR. Hyde in this one! But, to continue his work, he finds he needs to kill young ladies--and here the story seems a lot like Jack the Ripper. There's even the infamous Burke and Hare (famous for grave robbing in Edinburgh long ago) making an appearance in the film. So, we have sex changes, Jack the Ripper-style murders and Burke & Hare (who influenced Stevenson to write "The Body Snatcher")--this film has a ton of plots crammed into it. Oh, and lest I forget, a bit of a soft-core porn film, as when Mrs. Hyde appears, it's often naked time! That's because like many of the Hammer films of the 70s, they spiced it up with some nudity to try to draw in audiences--as film revenues were way down from the studio's heyday. I think this film actually suffers from too many plots. Now I would NOT have made yet another Jekyll & Hyde film---there have already been too many. But to have so many divergent ideas in the film seemed to muddle things a bit. A sharper focus would have made for a better film. It also didn't help that the acting and dialog were rather weak...especially the dialog. As a result, this seems like a rather weak horror entry by Hammer.By the way, get a load of the way that Mrs. Hyde so easily crafts a red dress from just a curtain! It reminds me of the "Gone With the Wind" take-off from "The Carol Burnett Show"--minus the curtain rod!

Script by Brian Clemens is wonderfully Gothic: Victorian Dr Jekyll (Ralph Bates) turns to Miss Hyde (Martine Beswick), marvellously evil brunette who keeps her beautiful scarlet dresses clean while murdering prostitutes in the misty streets and creating the legend of Jack the Ripper... Young, obnoxious and equally murderous Jekyll - he thinks prostitutes deserve to die for his scientific experiments - also has time to fall her unsympathetic neighbour (Susan Brodrick) whose presence eventually captures Hyde's murderous eyes... Women's lovely period costumes and atmospheric sets are lushly lit, and score by David Whitaker is wonderful, too. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, this is another marvellously Gothic, crazy masterpiece from Hammer Films - it probably bores sleaze fans to death, but I loved it.

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Hammer's gender blending version of the Stevenson novel has Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) experimenting with extending life but he accidentally turns himself into the beautiful but deadly Mrs. Hyde (Martine Beswick). This here is certainly an ambitious little film that works a lot better than it should have. I think the biggest key is the screenplay by Brian Clemens, which throws everything into the picture and just hopes it sticks. Not only do we get the gender bending version of Jekyll and Hyde but we also get Jack the Ripper elements thrown in and we also get Burke and Hare elements added for good measure. We've basically got three different movies going on here and it's all held together with some very good direction by Baker. He handles the material quite well and mixes it up nicely and for the most part delivers a good film. The biggest problem is that the movie starts to run out of steam towards the end and the final ten-minutes are pretty dragging. Another strong aspect are the performances by Bates and Beswick. It's remarkable how much they look alike and this adds to the story of them being brother and sister. Both are very strong in their roles with Bates really shining and I'd say he's one of the better Jekyll's out of any of the versions. Susan Broderick is also very good as the neighbor who loves Jekyll. I think this film is a lot better than Hammer's previous attempts at Jack the Ripper or the Jekyll/Hyde tale and the added sexuality makes this one to watch.