Docteur Jekyll et les femmes

Even though I watched the dubbed and censored (about 15 minutes of footage cut out as far as I can tell) version of 'Dr Jekyll and His Women' I was still very impressed by it. Director Borowczyk is best remembered for the infamous art/porn classic 'The Beast' so anyone who has seen that eye-popping oddity will have some idea what they're in for. Exactly what was left out of this cut I don't know, but looking at what Mr Hyde has in his pants it isn't difficult to guess! Cult legend Udo Kier ('Flesh For Frankenstein', 'Blood For Dracula', 'The Story Of O', 'Suspiria', etc.etc.) plays Dr Henry Jekyll, Marina Pierro (Rollin's 'The Living Dead Girl') is his fiancee, and the supporting cast includes the marvelous character actors Howard Vernon (who appeared in innumerable Jess Franco movies, 'Alphaville', 'Delicatessen' and many other cult favourites) and Patrick Magee ('Dementia 13', 'The Masque Of The Red Death', 'The Birthday Party','A Clockwork Orange'). Magee gives a classic performance and almost steals the movie from Kier. Both actors make 'Dr Jekyll and His Women' essential viewing for any fan of the bizarre and "out there". I can't wait to see the complete version of this movie, I'm sure it's amazing! As it is, despite my intense dislike of unnecessarily butchered video cuts, I highly recommend this movie.

Two nights ago I watched the heavily cut British VTC release on VHS under the title of "Bloodbath of Dr Jekyll". A party is being held at the large London home of Dr Jekyll (Udo Kier) to celebrate his engagement to the beautiful Miss Fanny Osbourne (played by Marina Pierro), a young girl is viciously attacked outside and it soon becomes apparent that a maniac is among the people in attendance. I found it rather kinky in places and it is an unusual but interesting re-telling of the classic story, I also found it heavy on dialogue and rather boring. Last night I watched the restored and uncut version, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne", on Blu-ray and it proved to be a far more rewarding experience. This is not a movie for your typical horror movie fan, and like I have already said it is not a traditional Dr Jekyll movie. It is interesting that Kier, who has also played Dracula and Frankenstein in previous films, only plays Jekyll, here they did not go down the usual make-up route, instead Mr Hyde is played by a different actor (Gerard Zalcberg). In uncut form this movie packs in plenty of nudity, sexual perversions and violence, it's strong stuff. The sets and camerawork are superb, visually very nice and the soundtrack is excellent. I do think that it is one of those movies that benefits from a repeated viewing, not a film for everyone but I enjoyed it so much more second time round, though I don't consider it to be a cinematic masterpiece. Notable for being one of Patrick Magee's final roles, he died the following year.

This film is, as the other reviewers said, rather like watching a dream. It is interesting to note the subtle changes this film makes on the usual Jekyll/Hyde movie formula: Udo Kier's Dr. Jekyll is not really a benefactor of humanity, but a man who revels in being able to commit horrendous crimes in the guise of his alter ego - actually moving the story closer to R. L. Stevenson's original idea. He preaches a philosophy of going beyond good and evil through science.

Likewise, Hyde commits actually repellent crimes of rape, child abuse, and sadism - making him closer to the idea of "unchained evil" than the more genteel transgressions of other movie Hydes.

Overall - a memorable, beautiful, shocking, film. Well worth seeing.

A strange and dream-like interpretation of the Jekyll and Hyde story that brings out the themes of sexual fantasy and violence. It's several years since I saw it, but there are still scenes that stick in the mind, like memories of a disturbing nightmare.

I can't believe I had never seen this film before but it would seem so unless I saw some heavily cut version on video, because this viewing was a revelation. Much helped by the musical score and varied conditions of light so loved of the director, this is unworldly from the start, despite its seeming drawing and dining room settings. Things go wrong (or is that rather, right?) from the very beginning as we get the impression of something ghastly going on and the film does not pause, indeed it gathers momentum all the time. As if we too are on the same drug, our perception and involvement changes as we begin to see the transformation of Jekyll through the eyes of his fascinated fiancé. Truly transgressive, this is a magnificent portrayal of repressed desires and the beast within and such is the level of joyous destruction and killing that I shall have to include it in my 'Sadean' list.