Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Although I am a horror fan, I looked upon the arrival of yet another telling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a certain degree of trepidation. However, I must confess I was pleasantly surprised. This version was shot on video, but the production compensated with the use of nice locations and imaginative sets. The filmmakers were smart to stay away from outdoor daylight exteriors. (Here comes my rant.) Outdoor daylight exteriors are the Achilles heel of the current flood of video features. They always bring the cinematic look of the film down to the level of the evening news. The local evening news at that! When I watch a movie I want images that will transport me somewhere, not ugly reality. That's my major pet peeve about the so-called "video revolution." Up yours, Dogma! (Now back to the review.) The performances were pretty good throughout. Mark Redfield, who also wrote and directed, plays Hyde with a bit of a twinkle in his eye rather than as a straightforward monster. Carl Randolph gives a good understated performance as Jekyll's loyal but suspicious friend. Elena Torrez is sufficiently seductive as the prostitute who tempts Jekyll and brings out the beast in Hyde. J.R. Lyston is also good as the somewhat comic Scotland Yard inspector who finds Hyde's murders almost as destructive to the Yard's image as those blasted stories by that Conan Doyle fellow. The film is more loyal to the Stevenson story than many of its predecessors, but it does update the time to the turn of the last century. This allows for the introduction of the Lumiere Brothers and a novel ending. I caught this film at a horror festival. I look forward to buying a copy.

I really enjoyed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the acting ability, the set design, costumes, the story!!! Basically everything and I do believe it was done on very little to NO budget which is really impressive. It transfixed you into a different time era and from the first few minutes you know you are hooked. It is not the kind of movie that you feel like you can predict how it will turn out, I was always interested in what would happen next. I would love to work with the director Mark Redfield, I think I could learn a lot from him - he was the most astonishing actor. This movie is a real treat and you melt into the story completely. You will not be disappointed!!!

Whatever happened to the classics? That's what I always hear from true movie connoisseurs. Well with the DVD release of Mark Redfield's version of DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (Alpha Video), we have a new-age classic ... a throwback if you will. I myself, had the good fortune to see a screening of it in Baltimore over a year ago, and I left the theater feeling invigorated.

Redfield and fellow producer/writer Stuart Voytilla tell this tale, quite frankly, the way that Robert Louis Stevenson, would have told it, through the medium of film. Shot in classic locations, with an extremely high production value for the budget it was shot on, the film is technically superior.

And Redfield shows a real screen presence in the dual title roles, not to mention that his direction adds a little something to it. He also throws in a little FRANKENSTEIN-type undertones about man-playing-God and it really works in the picture. I don't want to give anything away, so I would leave the onus on classic film fans and fans of the horror genre alike to check this movie out.

While it may not pack the 'typical' Hollywood cast - which is about the only bad thing I can say about it - it does not disappoint in the delivery. But, hey, don't take my word for it. If you're a movie connoisseur, see it for yourself.

And hopefully, it can provide an answer to your long-standing question: 'whatever happened to the classics?' That's because it's a new-age classic, a throwback if you will ... one worthy of investing the small fee to buy it or rent it.

I saw this with a friend, who 'heard it was great'. What a suprise to see a really well done remake of this classic! The acting seemed to be particularly strong. Sets, although sometimes sparse, were quite appropriate. Costuming also was a strong point of the movie. I heartily recommend it!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2002)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mark Redfield produced, wrote, directed and stars in this latest updating of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson story. In case you've never heard of it, the respectable Henry Jekyll (Redfield) begins to experiment with a potion, which eventually turns him into the murderous Edward Hyde who then sets his violent ways on a prostitute (Elena Torrez). If you're sitting out there wondering why in the world we need yet another adaptation of this often-filmed story then rest assured that we really don't. If you've seen as many versions of this tale as I have you're probably wondering if this one is worth bothering with and I'd give it a pretty big recommendation because you can't help but admire what Redfield was able to do with such a small budget and apparently some production problems when the original backer bowed out of the project. On the whole this is a handsomely produced version as it's obvious there's a lot of care going on in the film. The screenplay does a good job at trying to show us new things that were left out of previous versions and I admire that they tried to tell the story through the view point of the lawyer Utterson. I'd be lying if I said the filmmakers stuck to this 100% of the time but it at least gives us a somewhat different view of the events. The direction by Redfield is another thumbs up because he has no problems telling the story and it's certainly well crafted and paced. Redfield, once again, does a very good job in the lead role and I really loved how differently he played the two men. I really enjoyed how laid back he made the Jekyll character without making him boring or too much of a good guy. On the other hand he also does a very good job with Hyde making him an evil character but slowly building up that evilness. Another major plus that the film has going for it is the performance by Torrez who is simply divine in the role. There's no question that she's easy on the eyes but unlike so many low-budget movies she also has an acting ability. I thought she was very believable in the part and I really enjoyed the sexuality that she brought to the role without over doing it as well as being so vulnerable. The rest of the supporting players are all very good in their parts, which certainly isn't the norm for this type of film. I do think the film's biggest flaw is that it runs ten-minutes short of two hours, which is just way too long simply because we've seen this story so many times that the viewer is going to know all the twists and turns that are going on.