The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 9, 2016

Note: Mill Creek has released 'The Two Faces of Dr.Jekyll' as part of a two-film collection with The Gorgon. Currently, the two-pack is the only way to own this film on Blu-ray.

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 Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll contains no supplemental content.

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is a bizarre adaptation of the classic story. It's decent, if only because it's different, entertainment. It captures the core essence of the original tale well enough, but is otherwise a fairly disparate entity and disposable film. Mill Creek's featureless Blu-ray boasts decent 1080p video and merely serviceable 2.0 lossy audio. Rent it.