‘Recourse to evil runs rampant against the laws of human restraint’
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes – also known as and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, Blood of Dr. Jekyll, Bloodbath of Dr. Jekyll and The Experiment – is a 1981 French–West German erotic horror film directed by Walerian Borowczyk (The Beast). The film is a variation on Robert Louis Stevenson’s story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and stars Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Patrick Magee and Howard Vernon. Electronic music pioneer Bernard Parmegiani provided the score.
Plot teaser:
The film takes place before, during and immediately after the engagement party of Dr.Henry Jekyll and Miss Fanny Osborne, attended by numerous highly respectable guests (a general, a doctor, a priest, a lawyer), the last of which informs the company that a child has been murdered in the street outside. While the others watch a young dancer perform, Dr.Jekyll instructs the lawyer to alter his will, leaving everything to a certain Mr.Hyde. Shortly afterwards, the dancer is found murdered, and the guests realise that one of their number must be a maniac with a prodigious sexual appetite…
The film was released in France in 1981 and won the award for “Best Feature Film Director” at the 1981 Sitges Film Festival for Borowczyk.
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Reviews:
‘Few films in the Euro horror canon have attained the mystique of this beautiful, shocking, and highly memorable fusion of antiquity, sensuality and violence from filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk.’ Mondo Digital
‘This is utterly brilliant filmmaking that packs a tremendous wallop. In its sheer unleashed anarchy, Jekyll bests anything Godard came up with to suggest the crack-up of Western civilisation in Week-End (1967).’ Ferdy on Films
‘Though its weird, flowing cinematic style makes it a little difficult to follow at times, I think it actually does an interesting job of updating the story for more permissive times, and it actually has a enough real horror and shock to make it not seem like a literary adaptation.’ Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
‘Borowczyk’s take on the Robert Louis Stevenson story, translated and infused with the director’s unique brand of visually perverse surrealism, unwinds with the dual-sided Dr. Jekyll and infamous alter-ego bringing misogyny, sex, murder and an over-sized ostensibly fake penis into sweaty focus! The Blood of Dr. Jekyll represents a milestone in sleazy filmmaking – showcasing the extreme nihilism of Stevenson’s infamous character…’ Pre-Cert.co.uk
Artwork by Martin Buchan
IMDb | Image thanks: Pre-Cert.co.uk
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