Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson's classic morality tale about evil "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" has been produced over 30 times since the dawn of the silent film era. Polish writer & director Walerian Borowczyk's uninhibited adaptation of Stevenson's literary landmark, titled "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne" (1981), differs considerably from the traditional mainstream versions. Indeed, if you have any reservations about violence, you might forego this grisly adaptation with its bizarre sexual content. This atmospheric epic opens after dark with a child fleeing from an immaculately attired gentleman in a top hat, suit, and gloves. Nothing stops him from overtaking the unfortunate girl and then clubbing her to death with his cane. Later, the broken pieces of the cane found at the crime scene testifies to Mr. Hyde's sadism. "Immoral Tales" lenser Noël Véry conceals the loathsome ferocity carried out on this fragile child in ominous but impenetrable shadows. This appalling opening scene sets Borowczyk's "Dr. Jekyll" apart from its counterparts. Kindly Dr. Jekyll doesn't the imbibe chemical potion that transforms him. Instead, he sloshes around in a bathtub with using this toxic concoction as if it were bath salts and emerges looking nothing like his former self. Udo Keir plays Dr. Jekyll, while Gérard Zalcberg plays Mr. Hyde. Borowczyk has criticized other takes on the tale because the actors were forced to add prosthetics or appliances to alter their physical appearance.
We hear initially from Dr. Jekyll while he is sitting alone in his laboratory. He reads aloud from the text of a book: "Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes while their own person and reputation sat under shelter." The action unfolds as usual in Victorian England. Miss Fanny Osbourne (Marina Pierro of "The Living Dead Girl") and Dr. Jekyll are celebrating their marriage engagement with a reception of friends and family. The film is told partially from Fanny's perspective because she eagerly anticipates a life of shared affection with Jekyll. The action occurs over the next 24 hours as Fanny discovers to her chagrin depth of her prospective husband malignant mind. Incredibly, she yearns to experience her future husband's experiments. In an ironic bit of foreshadowing, one of the obnoxious dinner guests, General William Danvers Carew (Patrick Magee of "A Clockwork Orange") compliments Fanny, "Young lady, you're a monster, an incredibly deformed creature, the very incarnation of monumental ugliness." Later, the General presents Jekyll with a bow and a quiver of arrows soaked in poison. This serves as another example of foreshadowing, since this primitive weapon exerts a part in the ending. Meantime, the 'transcendent' minded Dr. Jekyll feels emphatically that science entitles him to defy conventions. Similarly, when his vicious alter-ego Mr. Hyde strikes, the maniac doesn't confine himself to the raping and killing women. Moreover, he rapes men with similar abandon. Makes you wonder if Borowcyk somehow retrieved Stevenson's original manuscript that so horrified his wife from the ashes.
Jekyll's guests at engagement dinner indulge in philosophical debates about transcendentalism versus empiricism. Borowczyk weaves reams of exposition into the fabric of their dialogue. He provides us with everything we must know about Dr. Jekyll's ideology and ambitions along with his guests' opposing arguments. Some of Jekyll's friends take issue with his ideas, and tension boils over during the discussion. At one point, Jekyll proclaims, "I wish to make one point clear. Reactions in the body are not caused by chemicals. Chemicals do not determine actions. They do not dictate to the organism. They assist the body to create its own state." During those last words, we glimpse a huge, erect penis stroking a woman's derrière. Actually, this is a flashforward. Not long afterward, Edward Hyde storms the house, tries to trample Fanny, and then rips out the telephone line. The pugnacious General Carew takes command during the chaos, while Hyde continues his rampage. Carew orders the men to arm themselves with any weapons at their disposal. The trigger-happy officer goes berserk, shooting Jekyll's coachman by accident, in a futile attempt to kill Hyde. Earlier, before Hyde's assault on Fanny, Carew wrestled briefly with her. Ultimately, the General confronts Hyde and pleads with him to spare himself. Carew indicates where the women are hidden. Hyde displays no qualms about skewering the military warhorse with a sword, ripping his medals off at sword point, and then trampling them, too. Hyde ties the General to a chair and savors the occasion as General's daughter Charlotte Carew (Agnès Daems of "Rebelote") emerges from a closet with bared breasts to see what has happened to her father. Voluntarily, Charlotte crouches over a sewing table, caressing the machine, while Hyde plunges into her from behind to conqueror his lust. The symbolism of sewing discord is pretty obvious. Later, Carew whips his daughter's bare bottom with a rope.
After his recovery from the transformation, Jekyll is upset that this attack has taken place in his residence. Dr. Lanyon (Howard Vernon of "The Diabolical Dr. Z") conducts an impromptu autopsy on the ballerina, Victoria Enfield (Magali Noaro of "Savage Nights"), and describes the details of her demise. According to Lanyon's calculations, Victoria died from the insertion of "a male organ, human or animal," roughly two inches in diameter and 14 inches in length. Concluding his analysis, the physician observes, "Due to the unusually pointed tip and the hardness of the shaft, Miss Victoria Enfield's belly was perforated from inside, just below the stomach." Borowczyk does triple duty not only as writer & director, but he also as production designer. This claustrophobic yarn features lush production values. He confines the action largely to the interior of Jekyll's residence and has compared his film with "Alien." Altogether, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne" qualifies as an erotic arthouse classic, despite the notorious sexual penetration images that some argue classifies it as pornographic. Neither the nudity nor the penetration scenes are gratuitous in this nimble 91-minute film.
We hear initially from Dr. Jekyll while he is sitting alone in his laboratory. He reads aloud from the text of a book: "Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes while their own person and reputation sat under shelter." The action unfolds as usual in Victorian England. Miss Fanny Osbourne (Marina Pierro of "The Living Dead Girl") and Dr. Jekyll are celebrating their marriage engagement with a reception of friends and family. The film is told partially from Fanny's perspective because she eagerly anticipates a life of shared affection with Jekyll. The action occurs over the next 24 hours as Fanny discovers to her chagrin depth of her prospective husband malignant mind. Incredibly, she yearns to experience her future husband's experiments. In an ironic bit of foreshadowing, one of the obnoxious dinner guests, General William Danvers Carew (Patrick Magee of "A Clockwork Orange") compliments Fanny, "Young lady, you're a monster, an incredibly deformed creature, the very incarnation of monumental ugliness." Later, the General presents Jekyll with a bow and a quiver of arrows soaked in poison. This serves as another example of foreshadowing, since this primitive weapon exerts a part in the ending. Meantime, the 'transcendent' minded Dr. Jekyll feels emphatically that science entitles him to defy conventions. Similarly, when his vicious alter-ego Mr. Hyde strikes, the maniac doesn't confine himself to the raping and killing women. Moreover, he rapes men with similar abandon. Makes you wonder if Borowcyk somehow retrieved Stevenson's original manuscript that so horrified his wife from the ashes.
Jekyll's guests at engagement dinner indulge in philosophical debates about transcendentalism versus empiricism. Borowczyk weaves reams of exposition into the fabric of their dialogue. He provides us with everything we must know about Dr. Jekyll's ideology and ambitions along with his guests' opposing arguments. Some of Jekyll's friends take issue with his ideas, and tension boils over during the discussion. At one point, Jekyll proclaims, "I wish to make one point clear. Reactions in the body are not caused by chemicals. Chemicals do not determine actions. They do not dictate to the organism. They assist the body to create its own state." During those last words, we glimpse a huge, erect penis stroking a woman's derrière. Actually, this is a flashforward. Not long afterward, Edward Hyde storms the house, tries to trample Fanny, and then rips out the telephone line. The pugnacious General Carew takes command during the chaos, while Hyde continues his rampage. Carew orders the men to arm themselves with any weapons at their disposal. The trigger-happy officer goes berserk, shooting Jekyll's coachman by accident, in a futile attempt to kill Hyde. Earlier, before Hyde's assault on Fanny, Carew wrestled briefly with her. Ultimately, the General confronts Hyde and pleads with him to spare himself. Carew indicates where the women are hidden. Hyde displays no qualms about skewering the military warhorse with a sword, ripping his medals off at sword point, and then trampling them, too. Hyde ties the General to a chair and savors the occasion as General's daughter Charlotte Carew (Agnès Daems of "Rebelote") emerges from a closet with bared breasts to see what has happened to her father. Voluntarily, Charlotte crouches over a sewing table, caressing the machine, while Hyde plunges into her from behind to conqueror his lust. The symbolism of sewing discord is pretty obvious. Later, Carew whips his daughter's bare bottom with a rope.
After his recovery from the transformation, Jekyll is upset that this attack has taken place in his residence. Dr. Lanyon (Howard Vernon of "The Diabolical Dr. Z") conducts an impromptu autopsy on the ballerina, Victoria Enfield (Magali Noaro of "Savage Nights"), and describes the details of her demise. According to Lanyon's calculations, Victoria died from the insertion of "a male organ, human or animal," roughly two inches in diameter and 14 inches in length. Concluding his analysis, the physician observes, "Due to the unusually pointed tip and the hardness of the shaft, Miss Victoria Enfield's belly was perforated from inside, just below the stomach." Borowczyk does triple duty not only as writer & director, but he also as production designer. This claustrophobic yarn features lush production values. He confines the action largely to the interior of Jekyll's residence and has compared his film with "Alien." Altogether, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne" qualifies as an erotic arthouse classic, despite the notorious sexual penetration images that some argue classifies it as pornographic. Neither the nudity nor the penetration scenes are gratuitous in this nimble 91-minute film.