This item doesn’t have any media yet
1971 | Horror
97 mins United Kingdom
Late-period Hammer horror movie offering a different sort of take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale. Writer Brian Clemens apparently came up with the idea at the end of a long lunch, suggesting it as a joke, and was challenged to write it as an actual script. So he did. Real-life figures like Jack the Ripper and the grave-robbers Burke and Hare also appear in the final movie, which stars Ralph Bates (whom Hammer was grooming for stardom at the time) and Martine Beswick (formerly a Bond girl in several Connery movies) in the title roles.
| Produced by | Hammer Films |
| Director | Roy Ward Baker |
| Writer | Brian Clemens |
| Cast | Ralph Bates, Martine Beswick, Gerald Sim and Philip Madoc |
Hammer horror gender bender
Main Image Courtesy: Hammer Films.
Images And Data Courtesy Of: Hammer Films.
This content (including text, images, videos and other media) is published and used in accordance
with Fair Use.
| 9-10 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
| 7-8 |  |
|
25.0% (1) |
| 5-6 |  |
|
75.0% (3) |
| 3-4 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
| 1-2 |  |
|
0.0% (0) |
Well, what ensues is a struggle between the moral but weak Jekyll and his ruthless, psychotic alter-ego, which somehow develops to include the real-life grave-robbers Burke and Hare and a somewhat unlikely solution to the mystery of Jack the Ripper's true identity. It's not exactly the subtlest or most refined piece of work, but neither is it completely sleazy or ridiculous.
The cast, director, and production values give the movie a touch of class (the punishingly low budget is concealed rather well) and the main weakness is that the script often seems to almost be treating the idea as a black joke, and doesn't explore some of the potential of the premise. Still, far from the travesty or spoof it sounds like.