Arrow Films, out now

When his experiments into a powerful new anaesthetic go awry, physician Dr Jekyll takes off into the night, under the guise of ‘Mr Hyde’. 

Gérard Kikoïne’s (Lady Libertine, Buried Alive) colourful fusion of  Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Jack the Ripper gets a Blu-ray premiere courtesy of Arrow, and while it is by no means a classic, there’s enough here to hold the attention.

Jekyll/Hyde is played by Anthony Perkins who by this point in his career had no doubt resigned himself to forever playing the psycho. Glynis Barber (Blake’s 7, Terror) is Elisabeth, his dutiful (and it must be said, dully written) wife, who is unaware that following an unlikely accident where cocaine is mixed with alcohol, Jekyll is transforming into a deranged killer.

When I say transformed, it’s more a case of the lower jaw jutting out, ruffled hair and red guyliner. But Perkins is having a ball, the scenes where he’s tripping are full of Dutch angles, red filters, doves and 1980s pop video neon underwear. It’s here that the movie comes to life,  more Ken Russell than Victorian potboiler, and if you fancy some arty angles and more bare boobs than you could shake a corset at, this might just tick your boxes.

This new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative features an audio commentary by writers David Flint and Sean Hogan, there’s an interview with genre writer Stephen Thrower, an interview with Dr Clare Smith, author of Jack the Ripper in Film and Culture, and a career-spanning interview with the director Gérard Kikoïne. This first release also features a booklet of new writing on the film.

Verdict: A curiosity that’s more art house than video nasty. It tries something new by adding Jack the Ripper to the mix, but ultimately there’s little originality in this oft-filmed tale. 6/10

Nick Joy

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