Saturday, March 26, 2022

Movie review - "Dr Heckyl and Mr Hype" (1980) **

 Charles B. Griffith does a comedy-horror (I guess) based on Stevenson's famous story, updated to the present day. Oliver Reed in heavy make up plays a doctor who is nice but ugly and gets turned into a handsome cad.

It's a silly, "wacky" comedy that TBH could have done with more exploitation elements (violence, sex, nudity). Maybe it would've played better shot in the 50s with Dick Miller in the lead (Miller is in this, incidentally). 

Oliver Reed completely commits, it's got to be said - as Heckyl he's covered in make up and puts on a weird accent and as Hype does his Oliver Reed thing.

Sunny Johnson is quite good as the blonde dream girl - she died of a brain tumour not long after filming.  Griffith's old Roger Corman colleague Mel Welles pops in as a doctor.

This was an early American film for Cannon, who wanted a Love at First Bite. Didn't quite work out that way. I've got to say, it's not a dumb film, though - it is silly, very silly, but not dumb.

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