A friend gifted me a subscription to the Criterion Collection, and I was able to watch the full unedited version of this film. What an unexpected treat! Udo Keir plays the infamous Dr Jekyll. The plot revolves around a series of brutal rapes/murders that takes place at his mansion where various guests have been assembled to celebrate his engagement to the lovely Miss Fanny Isbourne(Marino Pierro ). Without going into much more detail on the plot, what this film does for Stevenson's novel is to add a level of eroticism and violence that might have been over the top if it had not been so visually captivating. Intentional or not, viewing the film feels more like watching a dream sequence- albeit a quite demented one. There are several instances where the director forces the viewer to watch the action through a narrowly framed window, giving the experience a voyeuristic feel. While not heavy on substance, it does suffer for it. The whole thing works because it provides so many scenes that remain with the viewer long after the credits.
