RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

christopher-underwood I can't believe I had never seen this film before but it would seem so unless I saw some heavily cut version on video, because this viewing was a revelation. Much helped by the musical score and varied conditions of light so loved of the director, this is unworldly from the start, despite its seeming drawing and dining room settings. Things go wrong (or is that rather, right?) from the very beginning as we get the impression of something ghastly going on and the film does not pause, indeed it gathers momentum all the time. As if we too are on the same drug, our perception and involvement changes as we begin to see the transformation of Jekyll through the eyes of his fascinated fiancé. Truly transgressive, this is a magnificent portrayal of repressed desires and the beast within and such is the level of joyous destruction and killing that I shall have to include it in my 'Sadean' list.

le_chiffre-1 This movie was recently screened at a local theater and being a fan of old horror movies, I went to see it based on the title alone, not knowing what I was in for. I didn't find the movie all that engaging for the first twenty or so minutes and thought I might've made a mistake in going. Boy was I wrong! It turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen. The first 20 minutes couldn't have prepared me for the insanity that would subsequently erupt on the screen.The person I was with kept snickering at what she perceived as plot holes or moments that she found over the top, but if you're concerned about the plot or expect this to be a faithful rendition of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, you're missing the point. The coherence of the story doesn't really matter; what makes this movie amazing are the mesmerizing dream-like images and atmosphere, enhanced with excellent photography and lighting (some of the best lighting I've seen in a color movie) and set to a soundtrack of piano and hypnotic, minimalist electronic music (from the days when "electronic music" meant analog technology, not Casio keyboards), occasionally punctuated with silence. There were parts where I almost felt like I was watching a silent film, except with music and in color.The photography reminded me somewhat of Andrei Tarkovsky's boring but visually beautiful film Stalker.There were scenes in this movie, like one that took place in a bathtub, which played with the viewer's sense of time in a manner that I've only encountered in some of David Lynch's work. I have to wonder if Lynch might not have picked up a few tricks from this movie.The closest thing I can compare it to in terms of "feel" would be to Carnival of Souls or perhaps more appropriately, to the 1964 "pink film" Hakujitsumu (Day-Dream).Even though there is a realistic, and hence viscerally unsettling, quality to much of the brutality in this film, Docteur Jekyll et les femmes is not a gorefest. It might be best to think of it as more of an "arthouse" film than as standard horror, kinda like a Russian Ark that won't put you to sleep. If you go into it expecting Friday the 13th or something like that, you're going to be disappointed.My only real complaint is the gratuitous sleaze, in particular the quasi-pornographic homosexual rape, the father flogging his daughter's bare buttocks, and the close-up on the dead maid's crotch, parts which needlessly drag the movie into sexploitation territory, making it less effective. I might've considered this a masterpiece if it hadn't been trashed up with what I can only assume were the director's pet perversions. I guess he just couldn't help throwing a couple of turds in the punch bowl.Here's hoping that this unique film gets a proper release on DVD sometime, since as of this review, it appears to be unavailable on home video. I suppose I should count myself lucky that I got to see it at all.

Michael_Elliott The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981) ** (out of 4)Walerian Borowczyk's wild, over-the-top sexual fever nightmare has Dr. Jekyll (Udo Kier) and Miss Osbourne (Marina Pierro) having an engagement party but soon the entire thing leads to a disaster when a sexual predator shows up.THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE isn't the first version of the Jekyll and Hyde story to feature a sexual slant. This film is something that many consider a masterpiece but I'm not going to share that much praise. It's becoming rather clear that I respect Borowczyk a lot more than I actually enjoy his films. This movie here is very slow moving but it's beautiful to look at. It doesn't have anything we haven't seen before yet it has moments that are strong enough to hold your attention.The biggest issue with this film is the fact that I simply see it as a fake. Porn, art and horror can go together and several directors have done it. Jess Franco and Jean Rollin immediately come to mind and I think both of them didn't try to hide behind any one genre and they would just jump into the material and go for it. I'm not sure why but it always seemed to me that Borowczyk didn't ever go in full steam. I mean, both this film and THE BEAST took familiar stories, added a touch of sex but I wouldn't say either went to the extreme of what they could have.We basically have a rapist running around the party and, like in THE BEAST, we see an erect penis. Was this meant to be shocking? I guess for some it would have been but to me it was just a silly sequence and nothing that happened was all that shocking. It was well-made and there's no question that the film has a surreal atmosphere and a beautiful image but on the whole there's very little story and it's overly boring. Both Kier and Pierro are good as are the supporting players including Howard Vernon.

romarblanc I cant believe that this director made this movie with only intention of retelling this fable wrote by stevenson..., i think borowcyk is always scoffing at society, military, Church, patriarchal family..., he uses the already known plot for his purposes..., yes..., he is an artist..., watch how is portrayed the General, watch how he is always giving orders, using a gun and watch how he beats his daughter when she tells him "i love him, i love him..." i.e.: she loves Mr Hyde... Watch too the scene in which Hyde kills his mother or Jekyll´s wife hers..., ay the end... ,Hyde and Jekyll´s wife makes love in a cab..., then you understand: love, or sex, cause in this movie is rhe same thing, is relly good and joyfull whithout the limitations imposed by society.Very good soundtrack, that reminds me a lot of Rick Wakeman´s works and interesting using of editing.