France, West Germany, 1981
90m (UK), 92m
35mm film, Fujicolor
French, German
A French/West German horror film directed by Walerian Borowczyk.
Plot Summary
During the engagement party of Dr Henry Jekyll and Fanny Osborne, attended by many representatives of the state and the establishment, the guests are horrified to learn that a child has been murdered in the street nearby. Jekyll alters his will, insisting that everything now be left to a mysterious Mr Hyde. A dancer turns up horribly murdered. Then things start to get really nasty…
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Walerian Borowczyk
© by Whodunit Productions-Allegro Productions Inc. MCMLXXXI
Robert Kuperberg, Jean-Pierre Labrande present a Whodunit Productions, Allegro Productions Inc., Multimedia co-production
Executive Producer: Ralph Baum
Produced by: Robert Kuperberg and Jean-Pierre Labrande
Screenplay: Walerian Borowczyk
Based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of [sic] Robert-Louis Stevenson
Photography: Noël Véry
Supervising Editor: Khadicha Bariha
Music: Bernard Parmegiani
Sound Engineer: Gérard Barra
Sound Mixer: Alex Pront
Costumes: Piet Bolscher
Make-up: Christine Fornelli
Hairdresser: Janick Roda
Special Effects: Crescendo Productions, Minneapolis, USA
Set Design: Walerian Borowczyk
Cast
Udo Kier [Dr Henry Jekyll]
Marina Pierro [Miss Fanny Osbourne]
Patrick Magee [General]
Gérard Zalcberg [Mr Hyde]
Howard Vernon as Dr Lanyon
Clément Harari as Reverend Guest
Jean Mylonas
Eugene Braun Munk
Louis Michel Colla
Catherine Coste
Rita Maiden
Michèle Maze
Agnès Daems
Magali Noaro
Dominique Andersen
Isabelle Cagnat
Gisèle Préville
Alternative Titles
The Blood of Doctor Jekyll
Blood of Dr Jekyll
The Bloodbath of Doctor Jekyll – UK
Bloodlust – US video title
Dr Jekyll and His Wives
Dr Jekyll and His Women – USA
Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Dr Jekyll en zijn vrouwen – Netherlands
The Experiment – UK (video)
Nel profondo del delirio – Italy
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Lady Osbourne
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Tri Jekyll ja Mr Hyde – Finland
Walerian Borowczyk: Tri Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Finland
Production Notes
Censorship
For many years the film suffered repeated censorship in Britain, though not always at the hands of the censors. In various prints, all references to Hyde's prodigious sexual organs are missing, the murder of the little girl has been severely trimmed, the doctors examining the dancer's body is missing completely, the scenes of the General whipping his daughter are truncated, two shots of mutilated bodies in the wreckage of the house after Hyde and Fanny burn it down have been removed and the murder of Fanny's mother has been shortened.
Almost all of these cuts have been made by nervous distributors – the BBFC themselves claim only to have asked for 44 seconds of cuts, though clearly much more than that is missing from all UK prints. Worst of all is a video release titled Bloodbath of Dr Jekyll, which makes a jump cut from the murder of the little girl to the aftermath of Hyde's attack on the dancer, thus loosing 26 minutes. A blu-ray release in 2015 by Arrow was fully uncut.
References
Periodicals
- Cinema no.2 (July 1981) pp.162-163 – review
- City Limits no.176 (15-21 February 1985) p.20 – review (by Kim Newman)
- Écran Fantastique no.18 (1981) p.35-41 – interviews with Walerian Borowczyk, Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Robert Kupperberg and Jean-Pierre Labrande
- L'Écran Fantastique no.19 (1981) p.76 – review
- Le Film Francais no.1831 (7 November 1980) p.13 (France) – credits
- Filmcritica no.350 (December 1984) p.554-556 – review
- Films and Filming no.367 (April 1985) p.30 – review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.51 no.603 (April 1984) p.114 – credits, synopsis, review
- Positif no.244/245 (July/August 1981) p.122 – review
- Premiere no.47 (February 1981) pp.26-27 – review
- Screen International no.435 (3 March 1984) p.24 – review
- Sight & Sound vol.17 n8 August 2007) p.18-20,22-26,28-32 – illustrated article (75 hidden gems by Nick James et al)
- Starburst no.39 (1981) p.8 – note
- Starburst no.40 (1981) p.58-61 – credits
- Time Out no.704 (16 February 1984) p.35 – review
- Time Out no.756 (14 February 1985) p.44 – review
Books
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.361
- Film Review 1985-1986 by F. Maurice Speed p.42 – credits, synopsis, review
- French Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Pulp Fiction by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier p.28
- Hoffman's Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.111 – credits, review
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.102
Other sources
- Sex, Shocks and Sadism p.16 – review
