Dr. Heckyl und Mr. Hype

Charles B. Griffith wrote the original "Little Shop of Horrors", and co-wrote and directed this little gem. Note that I say "gem" in the most facetious usage.

"Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype" plays as a reverse "Jeckyll and Hyde" (DUH!) when ugly podiatrist Heckyl (Reed) discovers a potion that makes him handsome and, subsequently, desirable to women. But he cannot consummate any relationships since all the women he tries to connect with end up dead ("And I'm still a virgin!"). But there are police, garbage men and strange people emerging from the woodwork to make Heckyl's life even more disrupted.

It's cute, but plays out too hectic to be considered even a good "cult" movie, as was obviously the intention here. The talent was there; Reed in a comedy? Who would have known? And Coogan and Miller's contributions add up. And it doesn't hurt to have beautiful women to look at (like the Brough sisters - ROWRRR!). But if there was a little more story to add to the proceedings, instead of dry laughs and off-kilter pacing, maybe we would have had something.

In all, interesting but not even a pretender to the throne of "Horrors". A nice try, anyway.

Four stars for the effort, plus one star extra for Reed. Good to see him play silly on purpose, for once.

What's considered one of Cannon Pictures and Oliver Reed's worst movies has ironical casting since Reed, back in his Hammer beginnings, appeared as a pimp-bouncer in their own Dr. Jekyll adaptation...

And in the satirical DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE, as a ghoulish-looking yet sweet-natured podiatrist, he alters into the dashing counterpart, an overweight Reed, not all that mainstream-handsome but fitfully formidable, as the best scenes are of the body count nature, killing loose women he dates yet still can't score with...

All the while in love with the film's best attribute in future FLASHDANCE sidekick Sunny Johnson, who seems to like even the ugly side of the friendly doctor, and, had this role been expanded in-between what needed more random murders around her, HYPE could've harbored a neat barrage of deliberately campy, ultra-violent fun...

Unfortunately too much time's spent on the scientific side of things with Reed's horrendously unfunny fellow doctors and a few trailing cops during hard-to-see 11th hour night-shots, punctuating the super low budget that actually looks pretty decent in the daylight, when Reed's double-performance is more visibly sympathetic and involving.

Reading the reviews and seeing how the film has the critics pretty divided, I decided to add my five cents and break a lance for "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype".

The film is a rather bizarre affair, perhaps best compared to the slapstick-version "Jeckyll and Hyde … Together Again" (another underrated, pretty obscure spoof of Robert Louis Stevensons theme), although it's not quiet as slapstick-fueled and at the same time more anarchistic. If "Jeckyll and Hyde … Together Again" is a variation of "Naked Gun" or "Airplane", "Heckyl and Hype" seems to have climbed straight out of a "Mad"-magazine.

Oliver Reed obviously wasn't a born comedian but he has a rather dry, straight-faced humour that comes natural (which Reed has proved before in his portrayal of Tommy's father in Ken Russell's movie). This makes it much more comfortable than the forced slapstick of many actors who fancy themselves comedians. And of course (in his incantation of Mr. Hype), he isn't the Adonis that the movie makes him out to be; again, it's not the looks but his charm and there is no denying that "Sir Ollie" was a lady's man in his times. In his role as the ill-fated Dr. Heckyl Reed plays it lovable, evoking both sympathy and pity. Even if this type of humour doesn't tickle your funny bone, it remains an obscurity for being one of Reeds few comedic efforts.

Other than that, the movie is filled with weird & whacko characters played by Virgil Frye, Kedrick Wolf or Mel Welles. And, not to forget, the sadly departed Sunny Johnson as Dr. Heckyls love interest is cute like a button. And watch out for Dick Miller, playing a schizophrenic garbage-collector with multiple personalities, stealing all the scenes he's in.

As said: it's not for everybody. The fans of more intellectual comedies and followers of Woody Allen won't get too much out of it and, to mention that too, it's not altogether "politically-correct" – regarding obese women, colored midgets and paediatricians faces like a rubber Halloween-mask – but if you have a connection to that inner-child and a love for the trash-cinema of the 1970's and 80's, you might well give it a try and be pleasantly surprised.

Or maybe not – I still give it 7/10 points and that's based on personal preferences and as a dedicated Oliver Reed fan.

I'm amazed that this movie was ever made and NOT surprised that it wasn't made my any of the big studios -- they're simply too stupid to understand or appreciate it. Everything about this film defies convention, in a smart, funny and effective way. The people who disapprove of this movie are likely the very people whom it is satirizing. The editing, directing, acting and sound editing are marvelous and refreshing. The dialogue is wonderfully acerbic and sarcastic. I only wish I could find in on DVD. As is, the only copy I have is a VHS taped from commercial TV. If you get the chance to to see it, by all means do. It's a rare pleasure.

UPDATE: Thanks to modern technology, I have now burned my VHS copy to DVD for preservation. As of February, 2006, the film is STILL NOT AVAILABLE anywhere. The viewer who wrote that he saw it on late night TV with Elvira is correct -- that's the copy of the screening I have, complete with her interspersed comments (and cleavage).

Pretty unappealing comedy/horror movie. More of a comedy, with horror elements that don't mix well. It has comedy sound effects, and sped-up footage and other pretty low comedy elements.

Oliver Reed is horrible-looking podiatrist Dr. Heckyl, with whom we're evidently expected to sympathize. However, he's pretty unappealing, even appearance aside. He turns into Mr. Hype, supposedly a very handsome man, but without compassion. However, as Mr. Hype, he looks like...Oliver Reed - who's hardly good-looking by anyone's standards, but we're expected to believe he is. Women see something "tacky" in Mr. Hype's eyes, and he invariably kills them in ways that don't really work in such a silly comedy, they belong in a real horror movie (albeit a bad one).

This title is out of print, and relatively hard to find. With any luck, it will stay that way.