THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL (1961)

THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL (1961)

Tagline: A shock ending that you dare not reveal!

(Horror, Thriller, Mad Science) [PG-13]

Note: This movie was also known as JEKYLL’S INFERNO. The film was never given an MPA rating. It likely would have landed a PG-13. 

You are the same Henry Jekyll, forever seeking keys to the locked doors of the mind.

In this one, Dr. Henry Jekyll thinks that man hasn’t fully tapped his potential and he intends to bring it out. He doesn’t believe in good or evil, just the potential of man or some crap like that. He has checked out so far from his wife that she is cheating on him with his own best friend Paul Allen. Paul is a lowlife who owes a lot of money and hangs out with people doing drugs, womanizing, etc. Meanwhile, by taking a serum Dr. Jekyll can turn himself into a completely different persona Edward Hyde. His own wife Kitty Jekyll doesn’t know that Edward Hyde is her husband and pushes him away professing her love for Paul Allen. This enrages Hyde and he begins an affair with a dancer at a seedy adult club. It doesn’t take long before things start to spin out of control as it becomes clear Hyde is capable of murder. 

First off, this is one of the more celebrated Hammer Films from the reviews I have read, but it’s definitely a slow build so you will want to be ready for that. The makeup work is minimal but it works for what they were trying to accomplish. It should be noted that this is the film adaptation of “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.

Performance-wise this is a pretty good outing for Christopher Lee (THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) who plays Paul Allen. It’s certainly not his best, but he does a pretty solid job even though I can’t stand his character (or anyone in this movie for that matter). Dawn Addams (THE LOVE FACTOR), is just okay as Kitty Jekyll. I am sure she is better in other roles, but it was hard to really like anybody in this film. Paul Massie (ORDERS TO KILL) is actually pretty great in this. I don’t know that there was a ton of effort on his part playing a duel role since Dr. Jekyll is basically emotionless, but he’s solid. David Kossoff (THE MOUSE ON THE MOON) is good with the very little screen time he gets as Dr. Ernst Litauer. I think if he would have been on screen more, it would have been a better movie because he actually had morals. 

One of the stronger elements of this film is the battle for Dr. Henry Jekyll’s human side. It’s almost hard to not feel sorry for him even though he brought it on himself. It’s kind of like if someone weighs 400 lbs. They might have eaten all the pizza more than once, but you still never want to see someone suffer health-wise, etc., so you root for them to get down to a healthier weight. 

The score for this thing is superb, and there is nothing super over-the-top degrading by today’s standards even though several scenes happen in what is kind of brothel gentlemen’s club I guess? Back then this thing might have been considered a bit risqué. That being said, the movie did have to be toned down to get approved by the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification). 

Overall this wouldn’t be on my list of top Hammer Films you need to see. Of the films I have seen so far.  I would put THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT on that list, but it’s not a super long list right now, so take that with a grain of salt. I mean…if you have salt just lying around. 

THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL gets a 3 out of 7. It really needed a prominent character worth rooting for. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF HAMMER FILMS AND MEDIA ARTS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.