"Edge of Sanity" is an attempt to spice up the Jekyll and Hyde story by intensifying the risque elements which were only hinted at in the novel, as well as combining it with the true life story of Jack the Ripper. While it is clearly not intended as a straight adaptation of the book (the credits don't even MENTION Robert Louis Stevenson!) the story, of a warped Mr. Hyde who prowls round London seducing and then killing prostitutes, seemed to have prospects of being a classic, especially with the great Anthony Perkins playing the main role(s). Sadly, poor directing and a weak script let this film down badly, making it quite a disappointment.
The first time I watched this film I was struggling to stay awake, nothing in it grabbed me, and I remembered little about it afterwards. I assumed this was just because I was tired anyway, so I watched it again when I wasn't feeling so tired... and I got almost just the same feeling. The film is little more than a monotonous bore.
The plot, although interesting in concept, lacks any real depth or suspense. It feels so empty that a brief synopsis would basically sum up the whole film. It just feels like the script could have been put together in half an hour, without any real thought. And the lacklustre script isn't helped at all by the lazy and unenthusiastic directing. The film has a profoundly dull, monotonous atmosphere the whole way through, and simply plods along without any particularly striking moments. The attempt at a dramatic climax is feeble, the film seems to have no sense of suspense or any remote feeling of horror, and the ending is so weak that you're just left wondering what the whole point was in the first place. I have nothing against the erotic elements or the frequent scenes of nudity- it's just that the film is handled so badly.
But having said that, "Edge of Sanity" is saved from being a truly bad movie by Anthony Perkins' fine performance. He was the perfect actor to cast as Jekyll and Hyde in this film- if anyone else had played the role, the film would probably have been consigned to the dustbin of true trash. Perkins tries his hardest against the dire script to give his character some real development. The sad point is, Jekyll/Hyde is written in virtually no depth at all. It seems that Hyde, rather than being an evil side of Jekyll's character that has been released by the experiment, is more or less Jekyll himself. Jekyll and Hyde seem to have no difference in personality- it seems more like Jekyll IS Hyde naturally, but feeling his respectable position prevents him from committing the crimes he desires, he simply assumes an alternate form in which to be his true evil self. He gets little screen time as Jekyll, and we learn little of his character. And the fact that the reason why he possesses such evil desires is never really explored in any depth only serves to make his character pitifully shallow. We see a flashback to an incident from his childhood which scarred his mind, in one of the movie's few good scenes, but other than that he gets no development. Anthony Perkins tries hard to make his character seem convincing against the poor scripting, and he does a good job because while the film is mostly forgettable, Jack Hyde is a truly memorable character who should have been a classic villain. He looks brilliant (although it has to be said that there is little physical difference between Jekyll and Hyde, but I get the idea this is intentional) and Perkins plays him strongly enough to make him an overall impressive character, if flawed by his lack of development. He is the film's only strong point, and deserved to be in a better movie than this.
Therefore, aside from Perkins' excellent performance, "Edge of Sanity" is a real let-down that could (and should) have been a classic, but failed to reach this status. It's worth watching for Anthony Perkins alone, but aside from that, only a few scenes in the brothel (brilliantly designed) provide any real interesting moments. This is a weak effort, and there are plenty of better Jekyll and Hyde films.
The first time I watched this film I was struggling to stay awake, nothing in it grabbed me, and I remembered little about it afterwards. I assumed this was just because I was tired anyway, so I watched it again when I wasn't feeling so tired... and I got almost just the same feeling. The film is little more than a monotonous bore.
The plot, although interesting in concept, lacks any real depth or suspense. It feels so empty that a brief synopsis would basically sum up the whole film. It just feels like the script could have been put together in half an hour, without any real thought. And the lacklustre script isn't helped at all by the lazy and unenthusiastic directing. The film has a profoundly dull, monotonous atmosphere the whole way through, and simply plods along without any particularly striking moments. The attempt at a dramatic climax is feeble, the film seems to have no sense of suspense or any remote feeling of horror, and the ending is so weak that you're just left wondering what the whole point was in the first place. I have nothing against the erotic elements or the frequent scenes of nudity- it's just that the film is handled so badly.
But having said that, "Edge of Sanity" is saved from being a truly bad movie by Anthony Perkins' fine performance. He was the perfect actor to cast as Jekyll and Hyde in this film- if anyone else had played the role, the film would probably have been consigned to the dustbin of true trash. Perkins tries his hardest against the dire script to give his character some real development. The sad point is, Jekyll/Hyde is written in virtually no depth at all. It seems that Hyde, rather than being an evil side of Jekyll's character that has been released by the experiment, is more or less Jekyll himself. Jekyll and Hyde seem to have no difference in personality- it seems more like Jekyll IS Hyde naturally, but feeling his respectable position prevents him from committing the crimes he desires, he simply assumes an alternate form in which to be his true evil self. He gets little screen time as Jekyll, and we learn little of his character. And the fact that the reason why he possesses such evil desires is never really explored in any depth only serves to make his character pitifully shallow. We see a flashback to an incident from his childhood which scarred his mind, in one of the movie's few good scenes, but other than that he gets no development. Anthony Perkins tries hard to make his character seem convincing against the poor scripting, and he does a good job because while the film is mostly forgettable, Jack Hyde is a truly memorable character who should have been a classic villain. He looks brilliant (although it has to be said that there is little physical difference between Jekyll and Hyde, but I get the idea this is intentional) and Perkins plays him strongly enough to make him an overall impressive character, if flawed by his lack of development. He is the film's only strong point, and deserved to be in a better movie than this.
Therefore, aside from Perkins' excellent performance, "Edge of Sanity" is a real let-down that could (and should) have been a classic, but failed to reach this status. It's worth watching for Anthony Perkins alone, but aside from that, only a few scenes in the brothel (brilliantly designed) provide any real interesting moments. This is a weak effort, and there are plenty of better Jekyll and Hyde films.