Medical students Jay Jekyll starts experimenting with a strange drug similar to ecstasy that makes him become someone else. At first he's a bit frightened by what the drug turns him into, but keeps experimenting in order to improve it. It doesn't take long before he's addicted to the drug, or rather that he's addicted to being the person he becomes when taking the drug. And that person is Hyde.
I have to admit that I wasn't expecting a single thing from Jekyll + Hyde, and figured it was just gonna be yet another b-movie that I would later regret sitting through. But to my big surprise, the film actually turned out to be more than just decent, it was actually a really good flick. Even though I guess we all know the story about Jekyll & Hyde, and for the fact that the story has been turned into different kinds of films over and over again, I have to say that this one really had an interesting take on the subject. With a good script and actors that really pulled it off, Jekyll + Hyde proved to be one helluva good film. I guess having no expectations help quite a bit, but still, it's not a film to dismiss as yet another lame take on the tired old story.
Even though the movie has some horror elements in it, I think it would be somewhat wiser to refer to it as a thriller, because that is really what it is. This time the person that is Hyde is really no monster per say, or that is looking at him from the outside. When taking the drug, Jay Jekyll becomes Hyde, with Hyde being a violent, sexual predator, but he doesn't transform into a giant hairy beast or any of those things we've seen before. Thing is that Jekyll is a nice, somewhat nerdy person, while Hyde looks better and has way more confidence. And even though Hyde is one bad mother, it's still kinda hard not to like him.
After a short time, Jekyll becomes obsessed with being Hyde and wants to be him all the time. Eventually things starts to go down-hill and it all ends in tragedy, something that I have to give this movie credit for as well since I hate happy endings. Happy endings have a tendency to make you forget the movies, while tragic endings have more feeling to them and therefore they're more memorable. You don't have to agree with me on this, but I think this movie really delivered on that front. Since the story is familiar to most people, it of course makes the film itself a bit predictable, thing though is that it doesn't really matter that much. The way they've put it together is really good, and the actors makes the story come alive in a very good way.
I'm happy to say that the acting was very good, because that's always my greatest fear when about to watch some new horror flick. You might recognize Bree Turner who a little while back had a role in the Masters of Horror episode Incident on and Off a Mountain Road. She delivered a good performance here, but Bryan Fisher stood out playing Jekyll/Hyde. Well, especially Hyde, Jekyll I couldn't really care any less for, still a good performance though. Other than that, the movie actually delivers a bit of tension along with a little gore and violence. Not too much though, but what's the most interesting thing here is the captivating story.
An interesting take on the old story which to my big surprise actually worked really well. Good acting, and above all, it was very interesting all the way through. If I we're you, I'd check it out.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Nick Stillwell
WRITING CREDITS: David T. Reilly, Robert Louis Stevenson
GENRE: Horror, Thriller
CAST: Bryan Fisher, Bree Turner, Zachary Bennett
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 97 min
RATING: 7/10
Jekyll + Hyde Website/IMDB Click here
Jekyll + Hyde Trailer Click here
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