The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio

The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio (1971)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Bizarre, to say the least, film from director Eric Jeffrey Haims has become a rather big cult favorite due in large part to its VHS having a very limited run and the rarity has led many to pay an outrageous amount on various online sites. Thankfully (or unthankfully) Vinegar Syndrome stepped up to the plate and released this rarity as a double feature with one of the director's other works. The film is pretty simple as there's a murdering rampage happening on a campus and it appears to be the work of someone with a split personality who might just be influenced by the zodiac. THE JEKYLL AND HYDE PORTFOLIO became a cult favorite because of how rare its tape was but there's enough bizarre stuff going on here where it's probably going to gain an even bigger following by those who enjoy bad movies. This thing is pretty awful from start to finish but yet there's a certain bit of originality to its look and style and I really can't compare it to anything else I've seen. I've heard people compare it to the work of Andy Milligan but I wouldn't go that far. For the most part everything from the acting to the dialogue is horrible but I thought the director at least did a good job at bringing a certain atmosphere to the picture. The entire thing has a rather low-budget and weird atmosphere that you can't help but keep watching. The film is full of some outrageous murder sequences and strange sex scenes. The highlight has to be a nude woman getting into bed and her female roommate saying that she's cold. The nude woman allows her to sleep in the same bed but only if she gets naked. What follows is a pretty "entertaining" sex scene. The movie really doesn't have much going for it outside the bizarre level so fans of low-budget flicks should at least watch it once.

I picked this up during Vinegar Syndrome's recent Labor Day sale. To be fair to me it was only a $5 double feature DVD release. I was drawn to it because of title other film on billing, A CLOCKWORK BLUE.

I hardly know what to say about this. It begins with a narrator, akin to classic Twilight Zone. Was this part of a series (or proposed that never materialized) of Sexploitation films? 🤔

While I have a fairly open mind to this genre, this is not one of the greatest in my opinion. The whimsical carnival-esque is obnoxious. This movie appears to have quite the reputation perhaps for it's rarity in availability. This movie plays like an early 70s Pornographic film minus the hardcore bits. Also features notable Porn and Sexploitation actress Rene Blond.

Fun Fact: The 1980s VHS release is considered "one of the world's rarest" video releases.

This is an extremely rare flick to find. made just before the heydays of porn and horror. But it is searched by collectors from the porn genre because a view big names are here to see even as this isn't a porn at all. Be the biggest name Rene Bond. People also hunt it down for the horror. There's not that much blood to spot but here and there the red stuff do sputter on naked bodies and most notorious is also the fact that they used POV shots from the killer when he's killing people. Overall this really has an Andy Milligan look. The way it was edited with jumps in sound, bad acting, boring story, you know what I mean.

I can't really say that this is a roughie. As I said earlier it was made just before porn became the hottest (no pun intended) thing on VHS and on streets.

Why this flick is very rare to find is the fact that it was rated X by the MPAA, it did had a short theatrical play in the US and Canada but it vanished around 1973. In the eighties it would have been released in the UK wasn't it for the fact that the video nasties were hunted down and with a cover of a naked mutilated female body it became clear that an official release never could come out. Luckily orders came from outside the UK and so it came that a few copies were circling the earth. If that never happened we would never see this flick again. Still up to this writing it's not out on official release. It's hard to get your hands on with the original cover of the mutilated body. I'm glad mine has.

Why porn addicts hunted this down is clear, why horror geeks are searching for it lays also in the fact that it contains animal cruelty in the fact that frogs are dissected alive because laying wide open you still can see their heart pound.

On the other hand it's typical early seventies. None of the girls wear underwear so once their clothes are off you can see another typical fact, the prominent bikini-tan lines.

Why the name Jeckyll and Hyde is used is still unclear for me. We do see some weirdo walking around but it's really on the edge of the real story. But still, it's a weird story with an introduction, further we have a decapitation. A lot of naked titties, some lesbian scene's while a man is watching, oh yes, voyeurism is important here.

The V shaped symbol, the weird doctor, the head nurse protection the women against men after her daughter is being killed? What's it all about. Shaky camera's and too dark scene's.

For Milligan fans this is a must see. For others they will find it boring. Still, it's famous for all latter reasons, worth watching if you dig B-exploitation.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

A split personality type kills because of being born under a certain sign of the zodiac. Period piece set in the 19th century features early 70's gore including a decapitation and some real life blood and guts - frogs are dissected in a biology class. Made with z grade production values and similar to an Andy Milligan film. Sebastian Brook who was in the late 60's comedy THE GAY DECEIVERS goes slumming here and appears as the director of a nursing school with the name of Dorian Cabala. A mixture of murder mystery and softcore sex scenes with most of the female roles played by performers in X rated movies. I first saw this on VHS in 1985 and most recently on a DVD-R. As far as I can tell it has not had a proper DVD release.