Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde [DVD]

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde' released by Shout! Factory in December, 2019.BLU-RAY: The picture is excellent. The print is very clean and you see virtual no imperfections. The color looks just about right. There are some scenes that are soft, mainly the evening scenes that are outside, but that is most likely how the movie was filmed. If you are purchasing this release for the picture, you will probably be quite happy with it. The movie is shown in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio.EXTRA'S:-The inside sleeve features an alternate cover to 'Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde'.-Audio Commentary with actress Martine Beswick, director Roy Ward Baker, writer Brian Clemens and film historian Marcus Hearn - I chose to listen to this commentary because you have most of the living principals.-Audio commentary with film historian Bruce Hallenbeck - Hallenbeck does many audio commentaries. I did not listen to this commentary. I listened to the other commentary provided in this release.-Becoming Sister Hyde: Interview with Martine Beswick - This 17 minute interview is new and made for this release. She tells us her memories of the production from how she got hired to the end of filming.-"LadyKiller: Inside Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde" - This is a 20 minute documentary on the production of the movie.-Radio Spots-Theatrical Trailer-Subtitles*****WARNING - LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SUMMARY: Dr. Jekyll is working on a cure for all diseases. His friend, Professor Robertson tells him that he is wasting his time. Dr. Jekyll thinks about this and then begins to work on finding a way to stop aging. He asks Burke and Hare to get him female bodies. He wants their hormones to experiment with. Once he begins experimenting, he realizes that his experiments are not only working but his formula turns males into females. Dr. Jekyll drinks the formula and turns into a female. He tells everyone he socializes with that his female persona is his sister. The formula does not work for long and Sister Hyde changes back to Dr. Jekyll fairly quickly. Unfortunately for Dr. Jekyll, Sister Hyde's personality is beginning to dominate him. Burke and Hare get caught and Dr. Jekyll needs to get the female hormones on his own to continue experimenting. Sister Hyde forces Dr. Jekyll to go out and murder his victims. Meanwhile, Susan Spencer, the young woman in the apartment above is falling in love with Dr. Jekyll, much to the dismay of his alter ego. Sister Hyde wished to do away with Ms. Spencer. It's up to Dr. Jekyll to stop his alter ego.PRODUCTION: Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde was released in 1971 and was distributed in the U.S. by AIP.-This movie was part of a double bill with 'Blood from the Mummy's Tomb'.-One of the very best Hammer directors, Roy Ward Baker, directed this film.-Ralph Bates married one of his victims in the movie, Virginia Wetherell.-The entire movie, including the outdoor scenes, was shot in a studio. DID HAMMER FILMS MAKE ANY OTHER FILMS BASED ON DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE?: Yes, they did. They made the very good 'Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll' in 1960. I happen to like that movie very much. It is my favorite of all of the Dr. Jekyll movies. Incidentally, Christopher Lee thinks it is one of his very best performances. It was a different role for him. He plays neither a villain or a hero. He is more of a scoundrel... a loser, really... WHAT OTHER VERSION OF DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE WERE FILMED PREVIOUS TO THIS MOVIE?: There have been many adaptions of the Robert Louis Stevenson story. I'm listing below the versions that start after the silent era ends up to when this movie was made. They are:-Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)-Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)-The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951)-Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)-Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)-The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1961)I guess there needed to be a revival every 10 years! If you notice, including Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), there is a movie every decade with a '1'.There have been countless movies that have been based on the same idea of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Even though they don't feature Dr. Jekyll, there have been many movies where a person is altered or changed from their original form. WHO WAS RALPH BATES?: Ralph Bates was originally being groomed to take over the reigns of Dracula from Christopher Lee. He was going to take the role in 'Taste the Blood of Dracula' but was replaced at the last minute by Lee.That is the reason for some of the inconsistencies of that movie from the previous one. A good part of the original script in which it is explained how Bates becomes Dracula remains in the finished movie. Bates was also going to take over for Peter Cushing as Dr. Frankenstein. He does this in one movie, 'The Horror of Frankenstein' and I think he does a great job. Cushing then returned to the role and Bates was pushed out again. He also had a supporting part in 'Lust for a Vampire'. This is a movie he called one of the worst ever made. I disagree with him on his assessment. Bates married Virginia Wetherell who had a part in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. After 1975 he worked mostly in television until his death in 1991. He unfortunately passed away from cancer at the age of 51. WHO IS MARTINE BESWICK?: Martine Beswick became well known by being a Bond girl in two James Bond movies. They are 'From Russia With Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965). This led to her starring opposite Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. (1966). She made one other appearance in a Hammer Horror movie, 'Prehistoric Women (1967). She continued to act in both movies and television shows until the mid 90's. Beswick married her co-star in One Million Years B.C., John Richardson in 1967 and was divorced in 1973. Beswick is alive today and still makes occasional appearances at conventions. She came out of retirement to take a part in 'House of Gorgon' in 2018 after 24 years away from the screen.COMMENTS: WHAT I LIKED:- I like Ralph Bates as an actor. It's unfortunate that he didn't get a chance to make more movies for Hammer.- Martine Beswick is very good in this movie. She believes it's her best performance and I agree.- Despite being shot entirely in a studio, I thought the atmosphere was pretty good.- While my first impression upon hearing the title was that of skepticism, Hammer did a good job executing up until the end. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:-I didn't love the idea of turning Dr. Jekyll into 'Jack the Ripper'. I was OK with using Burke and Hare, but I didn't think that was necessary either.-I know that I am in the minority, but I didn't really like the film score. Most critics think the musical score is a strong point.-The ending... I did not like the ending at all. I thought the movie lost something at the end. Hammer finished this movie on a weak note. There was no fighting and the chase was poor. The whole thing was just lame. Cops show up and Dr. Jekyll runs up to a roof and ultimately falls. While most of the special effects were good, the split face effect at the end missed the mark. To make matters worse, his notes were lost. They didn't even leave an opening for a sequel. I think ending it with Sister Hyde getting caught trying to kill somebody... perhaps her lover... would have been a better ending. MR. HYDE AND SISTER HYDE?: I don't have a problem with making Mr. Hyde the feminine version of Dr. Jekyll. I do, however, have a problem with making them both evil. The original idea behind Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is that Dr. Jekyll is a good guy and he turns into an evil person. In this movie, Dr. Jekyll is a bad guy. I did not like the plot point that turns Dr. Jekyll is portrayed as 'Jack the Ripper'. So in effect you have both versions of the same person that are 'Mr. Hyde'. I would have been OK with reversing the two by making Dr. Jekyll bad and Mr. Hyde (or Sister Hyde) the good person. Hammer Films made a movie in 1960 called the Two Face of Dr. Jekyll. In this movie some of the traits of each character switched between the two. Dr. Jekyll is ugly and an a social misfit. Mr. Hyde is charming and good looking but is still a psychopath. Of course, the case can be made that when Dr. Jekyll committed his murders, he was under the influence of Sister Hyde. But still, I would have preferred that he changed first. A MISSED OPPORTUNITY: It feels like the Spencers are basically pointless. When you think about it, they don't really mean much to the plot and the story could have done without them. I figured Howard Spencer would end up dead or at least be involved at the end. They started a romance with Susan Spencer but ultimately, Dr. Jekyll never even goes out with her once. The mother didn't factor in much either.The story could have gotten very interesting if a triangle would have developed between Howard and Susan Spencer and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. Unfortunately, Hammer chose not to pursue this angle.Another angle could have been Professor Robertson falling in love with Sister Hyde. I guess it was still very early in the post Hays code era and they still didn't feel comfortable tackling controversial subjects like sex changes.CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: This is a pretty entertaining movie from the latter part of Hammer Horror's original run. At the least, it tries something new. As I pointed out above, I did not like the ending but most of the movie is well done.Today, this movie would fit right in with Hollywood today. Swapping the gender of male to female occurs routinely. Back when this movie was made, it was an original idea. Of course, showing Sister Hyde topless would be frowned upon (at least by part of the population).The picture is excellent and there are some very good extra's. This is a very good release overall. If you are a fan of these types of movies and a fan of Hammer Horror, this release is recommended. WERE THERE ANY SEQUELS?: Hammer did not produce any other sequels to this movie. They produced one other Dr. Jekyll movie, 'The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll' in 1961. WHAT OTHER HORROR MOVIES DID ROY WARD BAKER DIRECT?:Here is a list of the movies that Roy Ward Baker directed for Hammer Films:Quatermass & The Pit (1967) - Pure science fiction/fantasyThe Anniversary (1968) - A comedy/dramaMoon Zero Two (1969) - Pure science fictionThe Vampire Lovers (1970) - Vampire stories are normally horror movies. This one doesn't really feel like a horror movie. It's more of a 'femme fatale' movie.Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) - Dr. Jekyll movies are hybrid sci-fi/horror movies.The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)- A minor appearance for Dracula in this martial arts/horror hybrid.Baker made some horror movies for other production companies. Among these are:Asylum (1972)The Vault of Horror (1973)And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)The Monster Club (1981)In addition, Baker directed 'A Night to Remember' (1958)RATINGS:Plot: 7/10 or 3 1/2 stars - Good plot but I didn't like the endingSFX: 8/10 or 4 stars - Not a lot of effects needed but whats here is fine.Picture: 8.5/10 or 4 1/2 stars - The picture looks great. The soft spots are probably how it was shot.Extra's: 9/10 or 4 1/2 stars - Two commentaries and two documentaries, very good extra's.Overall: 8.5/10 or 4 1/2 stars which I'm rounding up to 5 stars.Thanks to Shout! Factory for this release.

After reading Marcus Hearn & Alan Barnes' THE HAMMER STORY and visiting Chris Woods' cheeky BRITISH HORROR FILMS website (google it, the film reviews are a scream!), I have been working my way through most of Hammer Film's core output especially the often overlooked and unfairly maligned early 1970s films. The first part of this is due to the films being unavailable in America for awhile due to distribution problems while the bad rap comes from unfair criticism from hardcore fans because the company was trying something different. DOCTOR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE is one of the very best examples of this new approach forging the old style Gothic look with clever scriptwriing that is both reverant and irreverant to the source material. This comes as no surprise since the driving force behind the film is Brian Clemens the man chiefly responsible for THE AVENGERS. In addition to an interesting twist on the Jekyll/Hyde theme, we get Jack the Ripper and Burke & Hare seamlessly added to the mixThe setting is all too familiar. Victorian London with endless fog swirling about the streets. Well to do people in 19th century clothes strolling about while the lower class types are seen milling about the local public houses. Dr Jekyll (Ralph Bates) is seeking an elixir to prolong life and deduces that he needs female hormones to do it. As a result of these hormones, his alter ego becomes a woman and the "battle of the sexes" has begun. In order to keep up his supply he/she is forced to murder prostitutes hence Jack the Ripper. Brilliant! Although 50 years before the Ripper, Clemens works Burke & Hare into the story since they are a part of the British "penny dreadful" tradition and well known to British horror audiences. Add references from Val Lewton's THE BODY SNATCHER and 1968's OLIVER and you have a movie that is a delight from start to finish.Adding to the fun are the remarkable performances of Ralph Bates and especially Martine Beswick as Jekyll & Sister Hyde. They really do seem to be an inseparable part of each other. The transformations are well handled and just watch how Martine handles discovering that she now has a female body. The film is bloody not gory and since it was shot entirely on a soundstage, this allows director Roy Ward Baker to have complete control over the look of the film from the quality camerawork to the sublime set lighting. The lush, psuedo-Rachmaninoff score is also a definite plus. It's an example of where everything came together on a film from the settings to the performances to even the cheeky title which is wonderfully lurid (a publicist's dream) and delightfully appropriate. My favorite 1970s Hammer film after HANDS OF THE RIPPER and an absolute must for fans of the Jekyll/Hyde saga and Jack the Ripper.

R1 DVD review; Awesome Hammer spin on Dr Jekyll & Jack the Ripper combined into one movie. The leads Beswick & Bates look like brother and sister almost a perfect match for the transformation sequences. This is one of my favorite late period Hammer productions. Quality of the Studio Canal disc and extras are fantastic. If you like Ralph Bates is this he really shines in Hammers `The Horror of Frankenstein' check it out!

Classic Hammer Horror from 1971. Great picture quality on blu-ray.

Not sure what Robert Louis Stevenson would have thought of this, but I rather enjoyed it. Fine performances from Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick and it's uncanny how much they resemble each other. Great sets, good photography - the usual Hammer fare. If you're looking for something different in a fright film, you just might want to give it a try.

It’s a good transfer and worth buying for the clearer view you get of Martine Beswick. Wow! Very clever transition scene where Ralph (also good) turns into Martine! Finally the soundtrack’s Hyde theme is brilliantly atmospheric!

Very enjoyable, good quality HD transfer