Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) from Tuna

 Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) is a Hammer version of the classic tale, but with one small difference. The Hyde persona is female. Other than the scene where Dr. Jekyll discovers to his complete delight that he does indeed have breasts, it was dark, slow, and predictable. 

NUDITY REPORT

Hyde was played by Martine Beswick, who shows breasts twice and buns once.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1

  • Full-length  commentary by the director, Beswick, and a film historian

  • some poster art and stills

Scoop's notes:

 ... and it really has nothing to do with the Stevenson theme about the struggle between good and evil. Although Mrs Hyde is more sexually aggressive than Dr Jekyll, it is Jekyll who starts all the killing and grave-robbing, and he was doing that before he ever changed into Lady Hyde. So it is the struggle between evil and other evil. So the title of the film is quite misleading other than it's about a guy who transforms after drinking a potion. It is actually more similar to Jack the Ripper and Frankenstein than to the other Dr Jekyll movies, and it isn't much good because it has no scares, thrills, or chills.

I haven;t seen the DVD, but it does have some excellent features for a thirty year old film, including full-length commentary by the female star and the director.

 

The Critics Vote

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.0 
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C-. Interesting concept, but not much was done with it.

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