Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Starring: Ralph Bates, Martine Beswick, Gerald Sim, Lewis Fiander, Susan Brodrick, Dorothy Alison, Ivor Dean, Philip Madoc

More info: IMDb

Tagline: PARENTS: Be sure your children are sufficiently mature to witness the intimate details of this frank and revealing film.

Plot: Dr. Henry Jekyll, in attempting to find a toxin that will wipe out all common diseases, accidentally stumbles upon a formula that transforms him into a gorgeous but evil woman. He needs female hormones for his experiments, so a number of London women meet bloody deaths.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe

#47 on Hammer Horror (1957-1976)

What a great concept! I wonder if it's been done since then. How about this? Dr. Jekyll gets his bodies from grave robbers Burke & Hare! I know, this takes place in the late 1800s and those guys did their thing in the 1820s but who cares. How about all of this taking place during the Whitechapel murders (Jack the Ripper) and having Jekyll as the ripper? Pretty nifty stuff.


Bates does a good job as the doctor in question, and at one point sportin' the worst fake 5 o'clock shadow these eyes have ever seen.



Beswick plays his alter ego, Sister Hyde.



It's neat how they make all of these things work. By and large it's pretty good. It does get a little long in the tooth but everyone manages to make it all work. It's a noble effort and a clever bunch of ideas written by Brian Clemens who would soon write THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973) and CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER (1974), both excellent pictures. This one deserves a look.