The Doctor With Two Faces

Perhaps one of the best and most forgotten horror films of all time, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is one of, if not the best, retelling in film Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the text of which can be found here. The story is a wonderful delve into the dark side of human nature, psychology, behavior and how sometimes scientific experimentation can take mankind too far. Horror buffs, such as the ones at Hollywood Gothique, since the praise the work of this little known film from 1961, which remains very popular with those continuing to be exposed to it.

The movie stars Paul Massie in the lead role of Dr. Jekyll with Dawn Adams as Dr. Jekyll's wife, Kitty. The character of Dr. Jekyll's alcoholic gambling friend, Paul Allen, who is cheating on Jekyll with Kitty goes to Christopher Lee, of Lord of the Rings Fame. Meanwhile, Jekyll is continuing on with his famous experiment, which colleagues have warned him against and has caused him to be disowned from the scientific community he was once the center of. Upon the injection of the chemical he has been working on, the introverted, antisocial Jekyll becomes the self-assured, brusque, suave, and violent Mr. Hyde. He goes to the dinner party his wife is attending with Paul and stirs up trouble. The effects of the injection soon wears off and Hyde transforms back into the quiet doctor. The typical story we all know and love follows afterwards: Jekyll's coming to grips with his new identity and personality of Mr. Hyde as well as Mr. Hyde making Jekyll to cross the lines of human decency inevitably causing him to prove his own horrible theories about human behavior. As he becomes more and more intrigued with the personality of Hyde, Jekyll becomes more and more depraved, leading to his downfall.

The movie is done in vibrant color and uses a lot of color and lighting effects to help show the changes in Jekyll's personality. Music is very essential in helping to create background and atmosphere in any movie, horrors and suspenses particularly. The music in his film syncs up perfectly and really helps to portray the mood of the film. The costumes are so exquisite and help to shape the excess of the characters. Luxury is exuded in this film, making you wonder how big of a budget the film had and how much of that budget it exceeded.
Being that it is an early Sixties British film, around the rise of the Mod Squad Era and pre-Hippie counterculture, the film is somewhat exotic and tries to push the bounds a little for the time period. This is definitely not a Doris Day or Sandra Dee film for sure. A word of warning to those of you that are concerned about this sort of thing, there is some sex and violence in this film, though most of it is implied and off screen. I would recommend for all of you, not just the horror buffs and Jekyll/Hyde fans, to track down a copy of this movie and watch it.