Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Dr Jeckyll And His Women; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 0.25 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 0.25 Acting: 0.50 Enjoyment: 0.25
TOTAL: 2.75 out of 10.00
Did I watch the right movie? At the time of writing this review, IMDb has Dr Jeckyll And His Women with a 6.1 Rating with 1.1k votes. The movie I just wasted an hour and a half on had the same cast and director, so I deduce it was the same film. However, I cannot, for the life of me, understand the high Rating.
Walerian Borowczyk, who wrote and directed this masterpiece of monotonous drivel, should never pick up a crayon again. His writing skills are dreadful. For his story, he's decided to extend upon the engagement party of Dr Henry Jekyll to Miss Fanny Osbourne. This idea would have been grand had he been able to create and develop engaging, appealing, and credible characters. Even though Robert Louis Stevenson did the bulk of the work with Jekyll, Borowczyk still manages to make the drug-addled and tortured man appear less than two-dimensional. Most of the individuals in his narrative suffer from similar thinness of personality. But that is just the start of the troubles. Once we get around the dining table, he turns the dialogue into precocious nonsense about transcendental medicine. I would be very surprised if your finger isn't tapping the off button at this moment. If I were you, I'd hit it, and hard, because it's only going to get worse. As we progress through the quagmire of crap, we realise Borowczyk has decided that structure and continuity are for the sane - and out the window, they fly. We are then privy to people making themselves hostages in their house. Instead of seeking refuge, they run from room to room while a doddery old general repeatedly fires his pistol at nothing in particular: All the while, screeching out his orders to run and protect yourselves. And it still worsens. The decrepit old soldier hides his daughter in the wardrobe, fearing the molester is in the house. Not only is Mr Hyde in the house, but he appears to manifest from nowhere in the General's quarters. Sadly, the man-at-arms has spent his load and his pistol clicks on empty. As he begs like a true coward, give the man a headdress of white feathers, his daughter comes out of the cupboard, topless and bends over the sowing machine to give Hyde easy access, all the while goading Daddy to look. However, there is one shining sliver of ingenuity in this miserable mess of a story. The way Jekyll transforms into Hyde. It's not by imbibing a potion. No! Jekyll has to bathe in it. I have to admit that though the story is horrendous to the extreme, this idea is excellent. I even liked the idea of Hyde having to take a second drug to resurrect Jekyll, though why the madman should is beyond me, as both the personalities get their rocks off being Hyde.
Now the strange thing about this whole mess of a picture is Borowczyk's filmmaking. It is quite superb. He has a fine eye for composition and a delicate touch for using natural lighting. Regrettably, the scenes are not riveting enough. Though superbly captured, there is little of interest happening. And the majority of the picture is shot in a standard fashion with lots of camera shake, which looks accidental - making the direction less powerful. His main downfall is the tempo. For some unknown reason, he appoints to tell the tale at the slowest pace possible. Everything is on the screen for too long: even the excellent composites. By extending every scene, Borowczyk reduces their effect, effectively making them boring for the audience. I will say this for him; he knows how to stab himself in the back. Another component he should have directed with a firmer hand is the cast.
Because the cast is appalling: I was willing to put it down to the overdubbing, but I simply couldn't. Nearly every actor or actress in this movie has performed a hundred times better in other productions. There's a tie for the worst performer - Udo Kier as Jekyll and Patrick Magee as General William Danvers. Watching Kier fully clothed in the bathtub splashing about like a fish out of water is hilarious, while Magee appears to be adlibbing his lines - very badly. I felt embarrassed for all the performers, except Gerard Zalcberg, as he's not too bad as Jekyll's alter-ego Hyde.
Now with all that said, I cannot, even with a stout heart and malice in mind, recommend you watch Dr Jeckyll And His Women. There are so many superior movies out there to entertain you. Even the multitude of Jekyll and Hyde flicks are better than this tripe.
Back in the cupboard with you, my precious; you're not my type. While you're waiting for Hyde to resurface, check out my Absolute Horror, The Final Frontier, and Killer Thriller Chillers lists to see where I ranked Dr Jeckyll And His Women - But, better yet: You can find a more enjoyable movie to watch.
Take Care & Stay Well.
Story: 0.25 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 0.25 Acting: 0.50 Enjoyment: 0.25
TOTAL: 2.75 out of 10.00
Did I watch the right movie? At the time of writing this review, IMDb has Dr Jeckyll And His Women with a 6.1 Rating with 1.1k votes. The movie I just wasted an hour and a half on had the same cast and director, so I deduce it was the same film. However, I cannot, for the life of me, understand the high Rating.
Walerian Borowczyk, who wrote and directed this masterpiece of monotonous drivel, should never pick up a crayon again. His writing skills are dreadful. For his story, he's decided to extend upon the engagement party of Dr Henry Jekyll to Miss Fanny Osbourne. This idea would have been grand had he been able to create and develop engaging, appealing, and credible characters. Even though Robert Louis Stevenson did the bulk of the work with Jekyll, Borowczyk still manages to make the drug-addled and tortured man appear less than two-dimensional. Most of the individuals in his narrative suffer from similar thinness of personality. But that is just the start of the troubles. Once we get around the dining table, he turns the dialogue into precocious nonsense about transcendental medicine. I would be very surprised if your finger isn't tapping the off button at this moment. If I were you, I'd hit it, and hard, because it's only going to get worse. As we progress through the quagmire of crap, we realise Borowczyk has decided that structure and continuity are for the sane - and out the window, they fly. We are then privy to people making themselves hostages in their house. Instead of seeking refuge, they run from room to room while a doddery old general repeatedly fires his pistol at nothing in particular: All the while, screeching out his orders to run and protect yourselves. And it still worsens. The decrepit old soldier hides his daughter in the wardrobe, fearing the molester is in the house. Not only is Mr Hyde in the house, but he appears to manifest from nowhere in the General's quarters. Sadly, the man-at-arms has spent his load and his pistol clicks on empty. As he begs like a true coward, give the man a headdress of white feathers, his daughter comes out of the cupboard, topless and bends over the sowing machine to give Hyde easy access, all the while goading Daddy to look. However, there is one shining sliver of ingenuity in this miserable mess of a story. The way Jekyll transforms into Hyde. It's not by imbibing a potion. No! Jekyll has to bathe in it. I have to admit that though the story is horrendous to the extreme, this idea is excellent. I even liked the idea of Hyde having to take a second drug to resurrect Jekyll, though why the madman should is beyond me, as both the personalities get their rocks off being Hyde.
Now the strange thing about this whole mess of a picture is Borowczyk's filmmaking. It is quite superb. He has a fine eye for composition and a delicate touch for using natural lighting. Regrettably, the scenes are not riveting enough. Though superbly captured, there is little of interest happening. And the majority of the picture is shot in a standard fashion with lots of camera shake, which looks accidental - making the direction less powerful. His main downfall is the tempo. For some unknown reason, he appoints to tell the tale at the slowest pace possible. Everything is on the screen for too long: even the excellent composites. By extending every scene, Borowczyk reduces their effect, effectively making them boring for the audience. I will say this for him; he knows how to stab himself in the back. Another component he should have directed with a firmer hand is the cast.
Because the cast is appalling: I was willing to put it down to the overdubbing, but I simply couldn't. Nearly every actor or actress in this movie has performed a hundred times better in other productions. There's a tie for the worst performer - Udo Kier as Jekyll and Patrick Magee as General William Danvers. Watching Kier fully clothed in the bathtub splashing about like a fish out of water is hilarious, while Magee appears to be adlibbing his lines - very badly. I felt embarrassed for all the performers, except Gerard Zalcberg, as he's not too bad as Jekyll's alter-ego Hyde.
Now with all that said, I cannot, even with a stout heart and malice in mind, recommend you watch Dr Jeckyll And His Women. There are so many superior movies out there to entertain you. Even the multitude of Jekyll and Hyde flicks are better than this tripe.
Back in the cupboard with you, my precious; you're not my type. While you're waiting for Hyde to resurface, check out my Absolute Horror, The Final Frontier, and Killer Thriller Chillers lists to see where I ranked Dr Jeckyll And His Women - But, better yet: You can find a more enjoyable movie to watch.
Take Care & Stay Well.