Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / The Gorgon Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / The Gorgon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 9, 2016

Individual reviews of each film, and several additional screenshots, can be seen at the links below:

• The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
• The Gorgon

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
Score: 2.0/5.0

The place: London. The year: 1874. Dr. Henry Jekyll (Paul Massie) is a scientist obsessed with understanding man's inherent duality. He believes that in every human "two forces struggle for supremacy." He's so engrossed in his work that he's come to distance himself from his wife Kitty (Dawn Addams) who has taken to having an affair with her husband's friend Paul (Christopher Lee). Jekyll cannot concern himself with such things. He's close to a breakthrough, and against the better advice of his colleague Ernst Littauer (David Kossoff), he injects himself with a compound of his own making that transformers him into "Mr. Hyde" (also played by Paul Massie) who meddles in Jekyll's affairs.

Some people just can't help themselves. Especially these whacky, self-absorbed, wannabe kings-of-the-world scientists. In The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, it's yet another man utterly obsessed with his work, determined to make something of his life and work, ignoring not only the world around him but the warning signs that all point to disaster. And that's exactly what comes. The split personality angle works crudely, but effectively, in the film, but it's so haphazard, so bizarrely scripted and orchestrated, that the more serious emotional impacts of Jekyll's work is lost to the film's barrage of oddities that put a damper on the otherwise classic story of one man dealing with two very distinct personalities. The film, at its core, remains true enough to the thematic essence of the original Robert Louis Stevenson story, but it's a far cry from the most classic stylings, literary motifs, and dramatic core details of the source.

The Gorgon
Score: 3.0/5.0

A young woman announces that she's pregnant. She's not married to the father, but he claims he's only holding off on proposing until he gets his finances in order. Against her wishes, he whisks away to discuss matters with the girl's father. That night, the girl is turned to stone. The town convicts the young boy in her death, but his father Paul Heitz (Richard Pasco) sets out to prove his son's innocence. It turns out the dastardly murders -- now up to seven -- are being carried out by a gorgon that lurks behind the walls of a local castle.

The Gorgon is hardly award-worthy entertainment, but it delivers an honest, serviceable bit of movie fun. It's appropriately styled, a bit stiff but effective in conveying a crude cinematic terror that meshes well with its noir-ish mystery elements. Performances can be, and frequently, are, hammy and overplayed. Nevertheless, the film finds a certain charm in its conveyance of terror, taking its time for the characters and audience alike to soak in the plot and details and work towards solving the mystery. In a way, it's much more effective than today's jump scare, repetitive, and by-the-slice Horror. This is certainly a Hammer film cut from much the same cloth as many of its contemporaries, but the film demonstrates a superior grasp of the genre's basic tenants that results in a movie that's not as bone-chilling or terrifying as advertised, but that delivers enough crude entertainment value to hold up even today.

Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / The Gorgon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
Score: 2.5/5.0

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll's 1080p transfer serves up an image that's a fair boost over upconverted standard definition, but it's still a rather far cry from excellence. The transfer features fairly defined, but somewhat pasty, details. Skin textures in particular lack intimate complexity, favoring a plastic-like texturing, severe in close-ups. General image clarity is fine, and background materials, like woods, showcase enough definition to please. Period clothes are the biggest winners with the transfer, never finding real, serious intimacy but presenting enough textural nuance to showcase the period attire with some attention to detail. Color saturation is fair, particularly evident in red lipsticks and hair, though warmer woods and assorted clothing shades hold up nicely enough. Light grain flutters, but compression artifacts are commonplace. Black levels struggle a bit to hold depth, but flesh tones don't push too pasty or pale.

The Gorgon
Score: 3.5/5.0

The Gorgon's 1080p transfer isn't the prettiest ever to grace Blu-ray, but is a rather strong presentation by Mill Creek standards. The picture retains a moderate grain structure and yields a fairly attractive cinematic texturing. Detail is high, but not exquisite. Good, basic clothing, skin, and supportive details -- particularly all of the wood and stone seen in the film -- abound, while close-ups featuring heavy makeup effects are the highlight, showcasing all the crudity and density available. Colors are fine, failing to really explode off the screen but well saturated and expressing shades of red, natural green, and warmer interior hues nicely enough. Black levels are a bit uneven, favoring tremendous depth in one moment, crush in another, and paleness in yet another. Skin tones are fine, taking on a relatively healthy appearance and eschewing any real push to pasty. A few compression artifacts are scattered here and there, but overall, and for a budget release, the results aren't half-bad.

Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / The Gorgon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
Score: 2.0/5.0

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll features a rather paltry, only baseline passable Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Dialogue seems to flutter, mildly, away from the center at times, falling into the nether regions between center speaker and side speakers, but fortunately falling much closer to where it should be than not. Music is cramped and lacking significant verve or depth. Clarity is only meager. A few support sound effects chime in with decent enough presentation, but nothing approaching authentic.

The Gorgon
Score: 2.0/5.0

The Gorgon is saddled with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that barely gets off the ground. Music tries its best to escape the confines of a front-center stage push, but rarely does it succeed to spread its wings even mere inches. Indeed, imaging pushes right to the middle with no hope of escape. Clarity is mushy and notes are muddled. Highs shriek and there's no substantial bottom end. Sound effects are crude and rain and thunder only pass along the most basic sound details. Dialogue is at least fine, playing with enough clarity to get the movie by.

Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / The Gorgon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplemental content is included.

Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / The Gorgon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is a bizarre entry into the ever-growing collection of films based on Robert Louis Stevenson's source material. The Gorgon is film on a bit firmer footing, more traditionally entertaining and better crafted, too. Mill Creek's double feature delivers fair video, audio that merely gets the job done, and no extras. Fans of either film, or both, should find this package worth checking out.