Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)

Review by Tim-O



Starring: Ralph Bates, Martine Beswick
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
We horror fans owe a lot to Hammer Studios. The British production company kept the horror/ sci-fi/ thriller genres afloat through much of the middle 20th century and really changed the face of these kinds of movies forever. Their incredible attention to production values, writing, directing, acting, music, and the use of vivid color photography lent a touch of class not seen in most other genre productions of the day. (Or today, for that matter) The movies were also creepy, gory (for the time), and less subtle about inserting overt sexual situations (including nudity) into their stories. Hammer's two main stars, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, today remain noted horror icons who are just as recognizable as Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi to fans of the macbre.

In the early 70's, with Lee and Cushing becoming older and more expensive to keep around, Hammer decided to groom a younger actor to become the next Hammer leading man. This actor was Ralph Bates. Bates was an experienced stage and television actor who shared Lee and Cushing's dedication to the craft and took his work seriously. (Interestingly, he was also the grandson of Louis Pasteur!)The actors in the Hammer films had a way of making the most ridiculous situations seem tense and plausible. This was never more apparent than in the 1971 cult hit "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde".

Directed by the always sure handed Roy Ward Baker, "Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde" takes the original Robert Louis Stevenson story and turns it on its head. Bates stars as Jekyll who is search for an "elixir of life" cure-all serum that apparently can only be formulated from body parts of young women. He illegally buys corpses to concoct his potion and (of course) tests the serum on himself. However, instead of turning him into the monstrous Mr. Hyde, the serum causes him to change into a beautiful but deadly woman (Martine Beswick) Martine begins to seduce the brother of Jekyll's awkward love interest, who both live with their mother above Jekyll's room at the same boarding house. Jekyll claims Beswick is his sister, Mrs. Hyde…hence "Sister Hyde". When Jekyll no longer can purchase his corpses, Mrs. Hyde takes the reigns and supplies him with fresh murder victims to assure her continued existence.

Interestingly, the story ties itself into the Burke and Hare grave robbing case and the Jack the Ripper White Chapel murders in a pretty clever, albeit absolutely historically inaccurate, way. I also found the brother and sister both "dating" Jekyll/Hyde to be a really cool plot device that really lent itself to the tension of the story. Of course, as with most of the Hammer films, everything about the production values is top notch. 19th century London is convincingly recreated and the writing, acting, direction, and camera work are superb considering the budget constraints Hammer was always dealing with. Bates, as Jekyll, gives a curiously unsympathetic performance and even commits one of the murders himself (!)

I really enjoyed "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde" more than I thought it would. The way fiction and history were stitched together was really fascinating to watch, kind of like the way Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" was. (To me, at least) It was creepy with spots of black humor that actually had me laughing out loud at times. Check this one out on a rainy day. I think you'll be glad you did. 7/10