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| Original film poster |
Will the driver of the hearse please move your vehicle away from the rear of the hospital. It's making the patients nervous. - Hospital Announcement
One of my all-time favorite comedies finally comes to Happy Horror. At one point, before it came to DVD, I thought about doing an ultra-detailed summary of this film, my thinking being that, since it was only available on VHS then it'd be extremely difficult to come by. But I found out it was released to DVD, picked it up off of Amazon and am now ready to bring it to you here.
Just about everybody knows the story of Jekyll and Hyde, how a scientist devises a drug to bring out his more base, animal side, only to have said side go out of control. This film brings the story into the modern day (well, as modern as 1982 can be!). Dr. Daniel Jekyll is a brilliant surgeon, the best that Our Lady of Pain and Suffering can offer. As we begin, our star is being watched over closed circuit TV by Hubert Howes, one of the richest men in the world and in desperate need of the world's first full body transplant. Unfortunately for Mr. Howes, Jekyll takes the opportunity to announce that he's giving up surgery in order to research man's inner nature, and how to tap into man's animal instincts to promote healing, without the need for surgery. Jekyll's boss, Dr. Carew, swears to Howes that "He'll be standing over you with a knife."
Jekyll, however, throws himself into his research, knowing that he can help more people than ever before. However, a combination of a late night experimenting and an interesting interruption by the name of Ivy Venus leads to Jekyll distractedly pouring one concoction over another, botching his work. Vowing to continue the next day, he lays his head on his desk and falls asleep. His breathing draws in a drink straw into his nose, the straw ends up in the powder of his experiments, and he ends up inhaling a small quantity of it. Jekyll immediately wakes up, notices what he did, says, "Uh-oh..." and starts convulsing, going through the initial transformation into someone - or something - else...
I saw this movie shortly after it came out, making me about 5 or 6 at the time. A lot of its humor flew over my head then, but I still thought it was a really funny movie, and that opinion hasn't changed at all about it. Directed by Jerry Belson, who directed Student Bodies and provided the voice for the Breather, the film does a good job of spoofing the drug culture of the time. Working in the film is an incredibly talented group of actors. Leading them is Mark Blankfield, playing Jekyll and Hyde, and he did a phenomenal job. The two characters do seem absolutely different from eachother, and when Jekyll tries to overcome the effects of the drug later, it really looks like he's fighting with himself. He was one of several actors on the short-lived Fridays, along with Michael Richards, where Blankfield played a pharmacist character similar to Jekyll. He also played in Robin Hood: Men in Tights as Blinkin, the blind servant, and in Dracula: Dead and Loving It, as well as The Incredible Shrinking Woman. He's such an amazing comic talent, I'm surprised he didn't make it bigger over the years. Bess Armstrong played Jekyll's semi-spoiled fiance (and daughter of his boss, Dr. Carew), Mary. Besides this film, she played in High Road to China and Jaws 3-D, in addition to numerous made-for-TV roles, and also playing on My So-Called Life. Playing Dr. Knute Lanyon, plastic surgeon, is Tim Thomerson. Most famous for the Trancers and Dollman films, he's had a memorable career, making at least one film every year for thirty years, usually more.
This film has a lot of drug humor in it, obviously. It's a pretty funny film, and one I recommend with the highest regards. 5 out of 5. Sorry the month of horror comedies has been such a bust, I'll get back to that world soon. After one more review, we go into May with a build-up to the new Godzilla movie coming out May 16th. Until then, take care and this is Red Hawk signing out!
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