We all know the classic of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, yet most film adaptations (that I'm aware of at least) are set in the era of the book. This version tries a different angle, in modern society and without such a drastic or supernatural change in Jekyll's being. And that's pretty much all that is good about this film. The rest is just a bland mix of bad acting, shallow characters, illogical story devices, unnecessarily drawn out sequences, and bad filming. More than anything, this is an homage to Bryan Fisher's (Jekyll) ego, as it is basically just a showreel of his transformation from a depressed (and handsome) "nerd" to a narcissistic playboy, by only dropping his glasses and growing some stubble.What kills this movie the most is just the lack of any depth to the characters, especially Jekyll (Fisher). He has about 3 lines prior to becoming Hyde, and gives no real reason for betraying his old life other than that he doesn't want to come in second anymore (which makes little sense in his case, as he is both smart and attractive to his crush), and to cure mankind of lame personalities.

First things first: this is not a modern retelling of the Stevenson story, no matter what the blurb on the case claims. It's a different story in the same line, with characters who happen to be named the same as Stevenson's. Also, it isn't truly a horror story, but a dramatized sermon disguised as such. I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was produced by a church. It contains no mention of God (except in vain) or of doctrine, but it's an elaborate illustration of a moral, which is actually stated aloud at the end: evil exists in all of us. The specific moral message delivered, if any, can only be: don't mess with drugs.In spite of or because of this, it isn't a bad movie. The director (or someone covering for him) shows one overriding talent: an ability to hold the interest; and that, in spite of making just about every mistake in the book. Take the first scene, where a character discovers a dead body. Instead of our discovering it at the same time he does, we get a series of cutaways from different angles, none of them from anyone's point of view; these take us out of the scene entirely. In other scenes, at points where it would become necessary to build suspense, or to pay it off, the director seems to have no confidence of his being able to do that, so he just ends the scenes there. Throughout, he overlays a loud, rather arty musical score, which is appealing in its own right but usually incongruous with the dramatic action, and often drowns it out altogether.The virtue of the director's that does the most to counterbalance faults like these is his skill in getting good performances out of actors. Apart from the movie's leading lady, a producer's-girlfriend type, the cast all come off well. The leading man is perhaps a little callow, but perhaps that was part of the point.The one important skill the director apparently lacks is the ability to create a solid script, or the judgment to recognize one. This one has playable scenes, but doesn't move right. It jerks around in time, never makes its chronology clear, telegraphs the ending at the beginning, and constantly cuts away from scenes just as they become interesting. Moreover, it's sketchy about the characters' motivations--most notably, Hyde's--and the progressions of their relationships. It needed at least one more go-through.But I expect that the director will soon move up to bigger productions, with tighter scripts, and once he has the legs to stand on, will show what he can really do.

This movie has great production values, good acting, a good idea behind the script, and competent crew, yet it fails at being in any way interesting or entertaining. The problem is how the story is told. Rather than go with a straightforward timeline, they mixed present and past and added a voice-over that provides some philosophical musings. The basic story is of course Jeckyl and Hyde: 2 personalities in one person, one good, one bad. The twist here is that the transformation is achieved here by a medical student looking for some breakthrough medication by experimenting with illicit drugs. The main character is established as a good guy only in a few scenes, most of the movie he spends as a bad guy, and he sure gets bad. Some of the scenes would be classified as "torture porn" by some, but in this case the victims are mostly males for some reason. Another sleazy character provides the drugs. Then there's the mandatory loving girl, who's interested in our JH for no reason and goes out of her way to care for him. Another friend gets to be the nice guy who gets bullied. There is not one character to care for. There's some gore and violence, a little bit of nudity of a corpse. Nothing that would make this movie worthwhile. Overall, for a horror movie this is rather tame and lame, slow-going and uninteresting.

I've seen this film together with my girlfriend who is an astonished fan of horror and psycho movies. Both, her and me, had a very nice evening with cooking and beer. This movies completed our evening! On my mind the story is (like hannes mentioned) an often viewed thing in the genre, but to follow the idea and opinion of a truly engaged horror movie collector this is a film you have to have in your collection! Uknown but magnifying artists. A Great and classic concept for a nice low budget production. My girlfriend is already looking for new movies in the videostore... with the hope of getting new stuff of the smart guys behind the cameras! 10 Points for this Evening :) !!!