Docteur Jekyll et les femmes
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes, also known as Blood of Dr. Jekyll, is a 1981 horror film directed by Walerian Borowczyk. The film is a variation on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and stars Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Patrick Magee, Howard Vernon, and Gérard Zalcberg.
| Docteur Jekyll et les femmes | |
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| Directed by | Walerian Borowczyk |
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| Written by | Walerian Borowczyk |
| Based on | Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Starring | Udo Kier Marina Pierro Patrick Magee Howard Vernon Gérard Zalcberg |
| Music by | Bernard Parmegiani |
| Cinematography | Noël Véry |
| Edited by | Kadisha Bariha |
Production company |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
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The film, a co-production between France and West Germany, was released in France in 1981 and won an award for Best Feature Film Director at the 1981 Sitges Film Festival for Borowczyk.
Plot
Dr. Henry Jekyll (Udo Kier), where the doctor is being feted before his engagement to the austere Miss Fanny Osborne (Marina Pierro). The guests, who are various dignitaries and officials, then arrive. After a meal, the doctor is summoned to his laboratory to get his will. He returns to the living room when a scream is heard where one of his guests has been discovered to have been raped and murdered.
Henry Jekyll transforms to his alter ego, Mr. Hyde (Gérard Zalcberg), by taking a bath filled with a chemical cocktail. He emerges physically transformed. His alter ego has none of the restrictions of morality, and he proceeds to rape and torture various guests.
Eventually Fanny witnesses one such transformation. She leaps into the bath to be transformed as well. The two transformed leave the house and in a carriage they depart, undertaking blood letting of each other and engaging in love making.
Cast
- Udo Kier as Dr. Henry Jekyll
- Marina Pierro as Fanny Osbourne
- Patrick Magee as General Carew
- Gérard Zalcberg as Mr. Edward Hyde
- Howard Vernon as Dr. Lanyon
- Clément Harari as Reverend Guest
- Jean Mylonas as Mr. Utterson
- Eugene Braun Munk as Mr. Enfield
Release
Borowczyk wanted to call his film Le cas étrange de Dr.Jekyll et Miss Osbourne but his distributors UGC insisted it be released under the title Docteur Jekyll et les femmes.[2] The film was released in France on June 17, 1981.[1] Docteur Jekyll et les femmes never opened commercially in the United States, and in Britain, it played at one cinema for one week.[3]
The film was released theatrically in the UK under the title The Blood of Dr. Jekyll and then later on video as Bloodlust.[4] On the film's presentation at the Sitges Film Festival, it was shown under the title Docteur Jekyll et Miss Osborne.[5] Arrow Films released the film in both the U.S. and UK on April 21, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.[6] his was the film's first legitimate commercial release in any medium in the U.S. and the first in the UK since the VHS era. Arrow also restored Borowczyk's preferred title The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne.[7]
Reception
The film won Walerian Borowczyk the award for Best Feature Film Director at the 1981 Sitges Film Festival.[5]
See also
Notes
- "Docteur Jekyll et les femmes". Filmportal.de. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
- Atkinson, 2008. pg. 167
- Contemporary Reviews (booklet). Arrow Films. 2015. p. 20. AV005.
- Binion, Cavett. "Docteur Jekyll et les Femmes - Cast, Reviews, Summary, and Awards - AllRovi". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- "Sitges Film Festival - Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya » Archives › 1981". Sitges Film Festival. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- Gingold, Michael. "More Arrow U.S. Blu-rays: Bava's "BLOOD," Borowczyk's "JEKYLL" art/details". Fangoria. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- Arrow Blu-ray release of "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne", extras and booklet
References
- Atkinson, Michael (2008). Exile Cinema: Filmmakers at Work Beyond Hollywood. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-7378-3.