The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

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

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 21, 2020

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear.

Powerhouse Films has already delighted fans of a certain iconic British studio with Hammer Volume One: Fear Warning!, Hammer Volume Two: Criminal Intent and Hammer Volume Three: Blood & Terror, all of which offered an admittedly sometimes odd grabbag of films. This fourth volume of offerings from Hammer is itself kind of an odd grabbag of sorts, with two more “traditional” Hammer opuses, at least in terms of offering a recognizable genre character like Frankenstein and/or Dr. Jekyll, included with two other, more contemporary, outings that at least may arguably offer some Gothic content in their own way.

In a way maybe it’s both a little surprising and understandable that it took until 1960 for Hammer to figure out they had “missed” a major character in the annals of horror. 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein is typically cited as the launching pad for what would become Hammer’s stock in trade for the next several years, overamped, often sexually charged, full color accountings of some of the classic horror stories. It probably didn’t take any rocket scientists at Hammer to figure out in the wake of the amazing global success of The Curse of Frankenstein that a redo of Dracula (also known as Horror of Dracula) might be a sure bet, and of course it was, becoming a hit in 1958, a success which in turn paved the way for Hammer's 1959 version of The Mummy. With various sequels for some of those properties already being produced even within this relatively short time frame, maybe it just didn’t occur to anyone at Hammer until circa 1960 that Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic tale of a “split personality” come to life might be a perfect source for another of their lushly appointed “historically” minded horror films. As some of the supplements on this release get into, Hammer may have seen this particular property as an opportunity for respectability, and they were willing to help cement that impression by paying an unheard of sum (for Hammer, anyway) to secure the services of Wolf Mankowitz, then perceived to be England's "it" writer, to author the screenplay.

Unfortunately, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is arguably the least effective of the early "Golden Age" Hammer horror adaptations. As some of the supplements on this disc aren't exactly shy about declaiming, Paul Massie may simply be too bland in the title role, but there are a number of changes Mankowitz makes to the basic story that don't necessarily translate that well. One of them is the simple decision to have Jekyll be a bearded character, while Hyde is clean shaven, leading (as the supplements kind of hilariously point out) to a kind of subliminal questioning on the part of some viewers as to where all that facial hair goes when Jekyll gives in to his "dark side". There are some interesting elements here, including an incredibly erotic snake dance in a party scene that was edited in some versions (as detailed in another supplement). As with most of the major Hammer horror entries from this era, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll benefits from an extremely handsome physical production, and some of the supporting players, notably Christopher Lee as a kind of unrepentant gigolo (who is involved with Jekyll's wife!), Oliver Reed as an even more caddish guy than Lee's character, and Dawn Addams as Jekyll's wife, are quite impressive.

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

Note: Powerhouse provided only check discs for purposes of this review.

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Powerhouse's Indicator imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Since I'm working from check discs without the benefit of any supporting documentation, I can't include any verbiage from Powerhouse about the transfer, other than their website's statement that it is a "high definition remaster". My colleague Martin Liebman reviewed the Mill Creek Entertainment release of the film for the North American market, and while Marty's review only contains seven screenshots, it can still serve as the basis for a bit of a comparison. The color timing here looks at least fairly similar to the Mill Creek release, but densities can be much better, and in fact the palette pops rather spectacularly throughout the presentation, especially in terms of some of the more lustrous jewel tones like the evocative purples and blues in several scenes. Fine detail on elements like fabrics on costumes and upholstery also enjoys better precision. There are some variances in clarity and sharpness throughout the presentation, but at least a few isolated moments actually look like they're out of focus.

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

As with Mill Creek's release of The Revenge of Frankenstein, its version of The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll offered only a lossy Dolby track. Once again this Powerhouse release presents the film via an LPCM Mono track which suffices perfectly well for the vast bulk of the film, though some persnickety sorts might have preferred a more boisterous sound in some of the musical elements like the charming (in more ways than one) snake dance. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

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

• Audio Commentary by Josephine Botting and Jonathan Rigby


• Identity Crisis: Inside The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1080p; 18:48) is another very well done retrospective, with some at times fairly trenchant comments from the likes of Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby, who don't shy away from some of the film's perceived shortcomings.


• Hammer's Women: Dawn Addams (1080p; 10:13) features Laura Mayne discussing the actress.


• Paul Massie: Archival Interview (1080p; 9:32) is a fascinating audio interview from 1967 done by an amateur filmmaker named Robert Blenheim who it sounds like more or less accosted Massie after a performance and got him to agree to be interviewed. This has some audio issues which are mentioned up front in a text card, but is still a really interesting listen. This plays to stills from the film.


• Wolf Mankowitz: Now and Then (1080p; 31:36) is culled from a proposed show called Now and Then which conducted an interview with Mankowitz in 1968 moderated by Bernard Braden.


• Mauve Decadence: Huckvale on Norman (1080p; 10:23) features David Huckvale discussing the film's score by Monty Norman.


• The Many Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1080p; 6:50) is a really interesting look at how the film was censored for various markets.


• UK Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:27)


• Sam Hamm Trailer Commentary (1080p; 3:12) is culled from Trailers from Hell.


• Image Gallery (1080p)

Powerhouse only supplied check discs for the purposes of this review, so I can't comment authoritatively on non-disc swag, but Powerhouse's website mentions a poster (exclusive to sales from the website) and a booklet with essays.

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

As many of the supplements on this release get into, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll just doesn't quite reach the screen successfully, and one of the people in the supplements actually suggests it would make an outstanding stage play instead. In that regard, I personally just finished a stint as the Music Director for a local (Portland, Oregon) stage adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde which transported the story to an 1860s mining town in Montana. I daresay even those drastic changes might pale in comparison to what Mankowitz attempted to do with his version of Robert Louis Stevenson's inimitable tale. That said, this is a release with generally solid technical merits and an outstanding slate of supplements, so even those who are nonplussed by the film itself may well want to check this out.