Doctor Jekyll, 2023.
Directed by Joe Stephenson.
Starring Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Robyn Cara, and Simon Callow.
SYNOPSIS:
A modern re-imagining of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale.
What better way to re-launch the legendary Hammer Films name than by taking a classic tale of terror and bringing it bang up-to-date? There isn’t, quite frankly, and hopefully the original stories will come, but with the Hammer name and brand come certain expectations so until that time comes, easing the name back into the public consciousness by giving audiences some familiarity is the way to go.
Of course, Doctor Jekyll is not the first adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to bear the Hammer name, the story having been adapted no less than three times previous by the studio. The first was a comic take on the story called The Ugly Duckling in 1959, swiftly followed a year later by The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, a closer adaptation starring Hammer stalwart Christopher Lee (although not in the title role – he would get his chance in the British Lion movie I, Monster in 1971, alongside Hammer alumni Peter Cushing).
However, it is their third version of the story, 1971’s Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, that bears the most relevance here, putting gender politics front and centre; alright, perhaps that is pushing it a bit, seeing as the idea for that movie literally came from an off-the-cuff pre-production remark about making Hyde a woman, therefore giving the filmmaker’s free reign to put in loads of gratuitous nudity – in the case of Martine Beswick anyway, less so Ralph Bates – but the point stands that at least Hammer were prepared to be a little bit daring when it came to retelling the classics.
Which leads us nicely into Doctor Jekyll, where gender plays another significant role as Eddie Izzard takes the titular character and goes off somewhere we haven’t been before in a Hammer movie. Izzard plays retired doctor Nina Jekyll, who lives in a huge country mansion and wishes to employ some live-in help. Enter convicted ex-junkie Rob Stevenson (Scott Chambers), whose brother has managed to get him an interview, much to the disdain of Jekyll’s stern personal assistant Sandra (Lindsay Duncan), but Jekyll is taken by Rob, who is desperate to get a steady job and so he can get custody of his daughter, who is ill and in social care, which leads to the formation of a peculiar friendship between the two, and secrets that will be revealed.
The obvious focal point of Doctor Jekyll is the casting of Eddie Izzard in the dual role, and she takes the opportunity and runs with it, making quirky statements and odd quips that fans of her stand-up comedy will appreciate. Jekyll’s interactions with the nervy Rob (whose middle name is Louis, of course) make up a lot of the running time, and both actors feed off each other like old pros in a two-person play, which is just as well because the script does take its time to drip feed the pieces you need to put the whole story together.
Jekyll’s background is shrouded in mystery, the details of her career and subsequent (forced?) retirement only hinted at and never fully revealed, and as an audience we are never sure whether Jekyll’s gender transition is part of the story. Indeed, in a flashback to Jekyll’s childhood she is played by a young girl, further putting the character’s history and accountability of events into question.
It is these sorts of details that the filmmakers rely on – as well as Izzard’s excellent performance – to flesh out Jekyll and her alter ego Hyde, because unlike previous incarnations there are no physical changes between the two characters, with Izzard scowling a little more and delivering her lines with a little more swagger whenever Hyde is required to appear.
That may not be pleasing to horror fans looking for some sort of grotesque monster as a villain, but despite Doctor Jekyll being a Hammer movie, this is less about the gothic horror and more in line with Hammer’s psychological thrillers that they used to put out between Dracula and Frankenstein sequels. Don’t worry though, as there is a little bit of body morphing towards the somewhat rushed ending, just in case you thought that somebody forgot to include any horror in their Hammer movie, but this more about the mood than it is the visuals.
Doctor Jekyll may be a slow-burning melodrama rather than a gore-soaked horror, but it does bring the Hammer name back from the grave in a way that pays homage to what has gone before – the picturesque country settings, the atmospheric lighting, the sense of impending dread – but with a fresh twist that adds a contemporary feel. Eddie Izzard’s endearing British eccentricity is a nice addition to the Hammer brew, and hopefully she will become a regular fixture for the studio in the same way that the likes of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Ripper, Thorley Walters and many others were back in the day.
For now, however, Doctor Jekyll is a fun, campy adaptation that has its flaws, but is ultimately a promising rebirth for Hammer.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
