Welcome to One to Watch – an ongoing guide to film. In each edition, I’ll be recommending one movie which deserves a place on your watchlist.
From overlooked gems to modern classics, One to Watch is all about discovering your next great watch, which today is the period horror… Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971).
In the movie, Dr. Henry Jekyll is a brilliant scientist who has dedicated his life to curing various illnesses. However, an off-the-cuff remark from one of his friends leads Dr. Jekyll to abandon his work in search of an elixir of life, which he hopes will extend the years nature has given him.
Utilising female hormones taken from the recently deceased, Dr. Jekyll believes he can find a way to live longer. But his experiments have an unexpected side effect which temporarily transforms Jekyll into a woman.
After switching back, Jekyll continues his work, obtaining female hormones wherever he can get them. But soon his female alter-ego – known as Edwina Hyde – grows stronger, and the two battle for dominance.
Directed by Roy Ward Barker, produced by Hammer Films Productions, and starring Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a marvellously macabre horror based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. However, rather than just use the book for inspiration, the movie also weaves in elements of two real-life criminal cases, Jack the Ripper, and Burke and Hare, to add some additional flavour.
The result is a horror story with flare, and one which is gorgeous to look at. Roy Ward Barker and cinematographer Norman Warwick pull out all the stops to create an atmospheric delight, and it is one of the best-looking Hammer films.
To add to this, Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick are perfectly cast as Jekyll and Hyde respectively, while the transformation scenes (especially the initial one) are brilliantly realised. This makes for a first rate Hammer horror and a firm favourite amongst fans of the genre.
That said, younger horror fans or those who haven’t really dipped their toes into Hammer movies may not be so familiar with Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, so not everyone has given it a go. If this applies to you, but you’re looking for a way to expand your appreciation for the genre, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is most certainly ‘one to watch’.
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the One to Watch. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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