Doctor Jekyll

Having just been released from prison, a former inmate takes a job looking after the estate of a disgraced cosmetics mogul while they're out of town, but when he begins to suspect something is wrong with her realizes the deadly truth about her condition and must try to save himself from the threat.

This was a generally fun and enjoyable effort. Among its greater facets is the endearing psychological building that attempts to take a rather unusual approach to the formulaic material. Instead of offering more of a look at the creation of the fabled potion, the onus here is more on the use of the differing personalities coming to the forefront without much knowledge or warning of who they're dealing with. The constant mood swings, the various instructions that are given out only to be ignored or contradicted moments later, and enough quips make for a generally uneasy time the longer he's there. Since there's a massive amount of doubt established as the root cause of the whole switching back and forth about her various personalities and he's given an extremely motivated reasoning to stay, this becomes worthwhile enough to give this a great starting point. That lets the second half come into more overt physical threats, which is a nice change of pace as it leads nicely into the finale. With the exploits firmly established as being more in line with a dangerous procedure from the past that comes into pass more than a rather comically underexplained attempt at saying the chemical imbalance she has is responsible, there's a fine touch here to present a more overt physical explanation for everything that comes alongside the secondary storyline about the ex-girlfriend trying to score money from him to screw his life over. As none of this is explained but still goes about trying to accomplish that with a daring robbery attempt that goes south when the true nature of what's going on is revealed, there's a nice bit of action here that's immensely fun and provides the film with a fun finale full of action and several twists to have a lot to like about it. There are some minor issues here that hold this back. The main aspect of this one bringing it down is the rather underwhelming pacing that takes quite a lot of time to get going as the emphasis on more cerebral and psychological factors means very little happens. With his duties at the house and the mood swings or other bizarre outbursts taking up the majority of the time, there's a rather sluggish tempo on display here waiting around for the inevitable. What makes it even worse is the fact that this could've been used to do something beyond repeatedly going back to the same well of mood swings blamed on a chemical imbalance rather than trying to bring up the idea of the different characters inhabiting her personality since all the figures here are based on this explanation rather than go for the more logical one that would add a terrifying outcome. With a lame coda on the finale that gives this a wholly unnecessary finale with a silly tone that ends on a sour note, these features are the ones that hold this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

This was a movie that I got the chance to see thanks to Keir Waller from Strike Media who sent over a screener. What caught my interest was that this is a Hammer film. They're a studio that I sought out after watching the original Universal classic films. This is them doing a modern take on a classic story now that they're back making features. I had heard about this film being made so that helped as well.

Synopsis: a modern re-imaging of the infamous story about Dr. Jekyll (Eddie Izzard).

We start this with Rob (Scott Chambers) lying down on a couch, turning on the television. What I like here is that we fill in the back-story about Dr. Nina Jekyll through newspaper headlines as it gives the credits. She is the head of a pharmaceutical company who has made important advancements for drugs and it's been lucrative. She has suffered an injury though that made her a recluse.

This then introduces our lead more. Rob is a former convict. This gets revealed shortly, but I wanted to go ahead and give this information here. He has a job interview set up thanks to his brother, Ewan (Morgan Watkins), who he lives with. We will also learn that Rob has a daughter, who is in foster care and has cancer. Her name is Ariana. Rob needs a job if he wants a chance to see her.

Rob goes to the address he was given and meets with Dr. Jekyll's assistant, Sandra (Lindsay Duncan). She isn't a fan of Rob and the more that she learns about him, she is upset that he wasn't vetted more. Nina is intrigued though. She offers the job on a trial basis. The job is to tend to Nina's needs, like preparing meals, giving medications and whatever is needed. Rob does things that upset Sandra and she's ready to fire him. Nina defends Rob and seems to forget things that she asks.

Things then take a turn when Rob goes to the store to pick up things. It is here that his ex and the mother of their child, Maeve (Robyn Cara), approaches. She knows where he is working. She wants him to let her and her crew in to rob Nina. He can't do that though. He's put in a bad position when she threatens to reveal information about him, making it impossible to see his daughter.

There are also things that Nina asks of Rob. It makes it more difficult for him since Sandra is ready to fire him. That is just the start. Darker things are asked that could put Rob back in prison, but if he does them, Nina is willing to share her fortune to help him. She also has a miracle drug that she claims can cure Ari.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I thought it was an interesting move to use the transgender actor, Izzard, for the titular character as well as the alter ego. For me, I don't have any issues here. This also isn't the first time this idea has been used. Hammer made Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde in 1971. I also remember Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde from 1995 where the doctor changes into a woman. We get something different from what I've seen here though having Izzard playing both Jekyll and Hyde as women characters.

Now that I have that out of the way, where I want to shift then would be the character of Rob. I felt for him the more we learn. Originally, I thought that he was just a slacker who needed a job. Seeing how appreciative he is toward his brother for getting him the interview made me smile. We then learn there that he's an ex-con. He needs a job to show the courts and the government to get to see his child. They've never met. That made me tear up. I root for him from there. Then seeing what Maeve is pushing and trying to do drives tension. It culminates with Nina wanting to help him. That is when we realize that he isn't always sure who he's talking to there, Jekyll or Hyde. Chambers does good in this role, so credit to him.

Next up should be discussing Izzard and taking on these dual roles. What is interesting here is that she plays Hyde subtly to the point where I didn't necessarily know until later that is who she was. I should have though, knowing this source material. That makes it scarier to where it ends up. I'm not overly familiar with her standup specials, but I've seen her periodically in films. She is talented and that comedic timing works well here. Izzard seems like this brilliant doctor who has run into an issue, physically. The more we see, the more devious it becomes with what their end game is. I didn't fully appreciate this until the end once all the reveals are done.

Something else I should say is that this is a contained film. Once we get to the estate, Rob goes out a couple of times then we're at the resolution which isn't in this manor. It is mostly Nina and Rob interacting with Sandra, Maeve and Ewan influencing them. There is a back-story introduced with Jonathan Hyde and Isabella Inchbald as well. This is a much different take than others I've seen which I did end up appreciating. This setting has room both inside and out so that adds to it as well.

Now I've already started in with the acting, so let me finish there. I've already said that Izzard and Chambers are both good. I like Duncan and what her role does to the self-esteem of Rob. She stands as the outside world and how they view ex-criminals. Cara is there to potentially ruin Rob's life and pull him back into committing crimes. Not directly, but he would be suspected. Watkins is good as well in his smaller role. Credit to cameos here by Hyde, Simon Callow, Tony Jayawardena and Inchbald as well.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I've already said that I like the setting being isolated like it is. What is good there is that it isn't too far out of town either. The cinematography was good to capture where this is set and make it feel claustrophobic. They also have limited effects at times where they frame it to hide the seams. No issues there. I did have a problem with Jekyll and Hyde seeming too not be all that different. There are reveals there as this concludes that clears that up. The latter is more of a figurative monster than a literal one like films of the past or the source material. Other than that, I thought the soundtrack fit for what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a bit different from versions of this that I've seen in the past. I've seen quite a few. I like that Izzard is making both Jekyll and Hyde as women. She has a subtle performance that makes sense in the reveal and I appreciated that. Chambers also does well as this ex-con character and how that fits into the narrative. This is made well enough. No glaring issues there. The best parts are the isolated and contained setting as well as the cinematography. Not sure that I can recommend this to everyone. It is an unconventional take on the source material that I appreciated. If you like Izzard's acting or what to see a different take, then I'd recommend it to you.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

I can't be the only one who thinks that Scott Chambers bears an uncanny resemblance to Barry Keoghan? Anyway, after a career in petty theft and drugs - and with a seriously ill daughter - "Rob" (Chambers) finds himself in front of the rather imperious "Sandra" (Lindsay Duncan) and her boss "Nina" (Eddie Izzard). The latter is looking for some help around her huge stately home and for some reason she takes a bit of a shine to the young man. After a shaky start, the two start to become friends and he is promised the funds to see his daughter "Ari" gets the treatment she needs. Snag? Well "Rob" has to help her out with a rather monstrous request. Has he got what it takes? The first twenty minutes of this are actually quite good - Duncan is fine as the over-bearing assistant and there's a bit of chemistry between Izzard and her new-found friend. Quickly though, there emerge a few silly sub-plots and, indeed, plot holes before an ending that I felt really quite disappointing. To be fair, Dan Kelly-Mulhern has tried to do something a bit different with this Stevenson story - never an easy thing when it's already been pretty much done to death - but this just runs out of steam by the half way mark and thereafter is all a bit daft. It's an OK watch for ninety minutes, but you won't recall it a week afterwards and there's really nothing remotely scary to worry about either.

This one is a low-end pseudo-horror flick that will have the Hammer founders revolving in their graves. The quality of this is many miles away from the iconic Hammer productions of old.

This one is a shoe-string budget movie with an interesting premise (although it is many miles removed from the original story and its undepinnings: the "Hyde" personality here is more of a curse that can be passed onto another person, instead of the animal-self gaining hold of the individual who takes the "medicine". This is a major departure from the original story, which was completely sci-fi - this new take is the opposite of sci-fi: it's suppernaturalistic mumbo-jumbo).

What saves this flick from total disaster is that the 2 lead actors do a pretty decent job, and that the editor has manajed to pull a cut that's half-decently paced.

Everything else reeks of 3rd-tier, amateurish wannabe-ism. You will never see any of the other perople in the cast in any movie or series anytime soon. (if you're lucky)

For a handsome man, Eddie Izzard is one ugly woman but he/she/or whatever pronoun he's using now (I couldnt be bothered to keep up), is an outstanding actor and lends great suspense to this film.

The film itself is an excellent re-telling/re-vamping/modernization of the Jekyll/Hyde story and held my interest throughout.

I readily admit that I wasn't expecting much from this and actually thought it might be one of those hated horror/comedy flicks, but there was no comedy in it at all--at least none that was intended.

Scott Chambers was exceptional as "Rob" and there was little doubt he was Robert Louis Stephenson from the get-go which made the entire premise even more satisfying.

Overall, it was a most engaging, most enjoyable interpretation.