Review: Eddie Izzard plays Doctor Jekyll (and the Hyde persona) in the latest horror film released by Hammer
PLOT: Recently released from prison, former thief and drug addict Rob gets a job caring for Doctor Nina Jekyll, who’s recovering from a broken leg. But the more time Rob spends around Nina, the more it becomes clear there’s something strange going on in the Jekyll mansion.
REVIEW: Founded in 1934, the Hammer film production company became very popular when it started releasing horror films in the mid-1950s. From that point through the early ‘70s, Hammer was one of the biggest names in horror… but then they found it hard to compete with the big horror films of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and things gradually fell apart for them. In 1979, the company went into liquidation. Attempts to revive the Hammer brand began in 2008, and we’ve seen some notable releases from the company in recent years: Let Me In, The Resident, The Woman in Black, and The Lodge among them. In 2021, the revived Hammer Films teamed with the UK’s Network Distributing to form a new company called Hammer Studios Ltd. In 2023, that company was acquired by the John Gore Organisation – and now, the first release from Hammer: A John Gore Company is director Joe Stephenson’s Doctor Jekyll, “a modern interpretation” of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. This wasn’t a project that was developed by Hammer, it’s one that was already in the works when they picked it up, but it’s fitting that this new Hammer should get rolling with an update of a classic horror story. Especially since this is material the original Hammer dealt with in The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971).
Films like those have helped ensure that most of us are quite familiar with the concept Stevenson came up with so long ago: London-based doctor Henry Jekyll, “a reputable gentleman,” finds a way to transform himself into a repugnant, evil fellow called Edward Hyde, and is then horrified by his alter ego’s violent behavior while his transformations into Hyde become more and more difficult to hold off. Scripted by Dan Kelly-Mulhern, this film’s take on the idea moves the setting into modern day and centers on Doctor Nina Jekyll, the granddaughter of Henry Jekyll who has inherited the family mansion – and has also taken up the research that caused her grandfather so much trouble. Just like the Jekyll of the source material, Grandpa Jekyll made a discovery that turned him into someone twisted and evil, with dimmed empathy receptors. So of course, why wouldn’t Nina want to dig into that same research?
This version of Doctor Jekyll is getting a lot of attention due to the fact that the title character is a trans person played by gender fluid comedian/actor Eddie Izzard, who prefers the use of she/her pronouns. But Nina being trans has nothing to do with the overall story, and the fact that young Nina is played in a flashback by child actress Lettie De Beaujeu indicates she must have transitioned at a very young age. The mention of Nina being trans is really just a way to allow Izzard to play the character, which was a great choice, because Izzard has always been awesome, whether in (as she puts it) “boy mode” or “girl mode.” The only down side to this situation is the way Stephenson and Kelly-Mulhern chose to portray the Jekyll-to-Hyde transformations. Instead of there being a physical transformation to differentiate the Jekyll and Hyde characters, the switch between personalities in this film are imperceptible. Characters (and the audience) can never be sure exactly when Izzard is playing Jekyll and when she’s playing Hyde, because this Hyde is a schemer and a manipulator. It’s an interesting approach, but it means that Izzard isn’t able to really let loose in the Hyde persona until very late in the 89 minute running time.
For the most part, Doctor Jekyll plays as a drama rather than a horror film. We enter the world (or the mansion) of the reclusive doctor from the perception of a young man named Rob Stevenson, played Scott Chambers – who, under the name Scott Jeffrey, has produced nearly 100 low budget genre films over the last decade, including Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Rob is a former thief and drug addict who has just been released from prison and needs a job so he’ll be able to see his daughter, who was born while he was locked up. Although Jekyll’s assistant Sandra Poole (Lindsay Duncan) doesn’t believe Rob is right for the job, Jekyll is drawn to the young man and hires him to be her caretaker while she recovers from a broken leg. We’re then treated to a lot of scenes of Rob settling into his job at the Jekyll estate, interacting with Jekyll (or is it Hyde?), and just hoping to stay on the right path. Even though his ex Maeve (Robyn Cara) is trying to pull him back into a life of crime.
I didn’t expect Doctor Jekyll to be such a low-key drama when I started watching the movie, but it’s interesting enough as the dramatic scenes play out and really didn’t need the occasional attempt to create a jump scare by dropping loud noise on the soundtrack. How are we even expected to jump at a moment like the one where Jekyll finds Rob snooping around in a hallway when Rob has a goofy smile on his face as he turns to face his employer? Rob is a goofy, awkward fellow in general, which I assume was a choice made by Stephenson and Chambers. It makes this a unique performance to watch, as Chambers certainly wasn’t leaning into the ex-con stereotypes.
Hammer doesn’t have a new classic on their hands with this new take on Doctor Jekyll, and horror fans who check it out hoping to see some rampaging Hyde action are going to be disappointed, but it’s an okay drama that plays around with some familiar concepts. Then the horror kicks in, leading to an ending that I’m not quite sure about. I enjoyed watching the film overall, but I’m not going to feel compelled to have more viewings in the future. So I would recommend checking it out and giving it a try, but be aware that the pace, tone, and the presentation of Hyde are probably not what you were initially expecting.
Doctor Jekyll will be available for digital download as of March 11th.
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