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Powerful

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Brilliant and touching

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is a film that revels in its very low budget: Doctor Marlowe's (Christopher Lee) quarters are cramped, tatty and cluttered, the location filming is frequented by only a handful of extras and the effective soundtrack is performed by a tiny ensemble. These are not complaints – such things enhance the intimacy of what is one of the most faithful and entertaining filmic adaption of RL Stephenson's 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' novella.Two things marred any potential success this may have had upon release. To begin with, Stephen Week's production was intended as a 3D release, but the process was abandoned mid-filming. This lends many scenes a curiously fluid movement which again enhances its uniqueness. Secondly, the central character of Jekyll/Hyde was renamed Marlowe/Blake – although all other supporting characters have names taken from the book. Probably this was due to Amicus' concerns that audience confusion would otherwise arise between their film and Hammer's upcoming 'Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde'.And yet, there is a top-notch cast. Peter Cushing joins Lee as Utterson, Richard Hurndall as Lanyon, Susan Jameson as patient Diane and Mike Raven provides his best horror performance as Enfield. Yet it is Lee as the kind but starchy Dr Marlowe who steals the show. His descent into the initially mischievous Blake, with the death's head grin and increasingly macabre sense of frivolity is terrific, despite the unconvincing hairpiece. He becomes frightened of the increasing power of his unsightly alter-ego in a tremendous scene in a leaf-strewn park. His earlier blurred-faced attack on a young girl in the street is surprisingly sinister. There is a finely balanced sense of sympathy/danger about Blake that is skilfully conveyed and carried through to the violent finale.

While I enjoyed Paul Massie and the Hammer version of the "Jekyll and Hyde" story ("The Two Faces Of Dr. Jekyll"), I admit that this version from Amicus Studios may actually be the better film. I suppose it depends on what you are looking for in your "Jekyll/Hyde" adaptation. "I,Monster" is pretty subtle (for a horror film) in its approach to telling the story. The director lets events unfold in an unhurried, meticulous way that allows the viewer to gather all the details without ever being sensationalist or lurid. Everything is present - the debate about the true inner nature of man; the London surroundings; the increasingly violent and degenerate deeds of the good doctor's alter ego; and the sad end. (I won't say "tragic", because this doesn't have the "feel" of a tragedy to me - it feels like a cautionary tale, and the protagonist is hardly a hero undone by fate.)Here's how good and solid the movie is: "Marlowe" (this movie's name for Jekyll) doesn't actually inject himself until nearly 30 minutes into the movie, and when he does...well, you haven't seen "unsettling" until you've seem post-transformation Christopher Lee puttering around his lab with a huge smile of malicious glee on his face, and then picking up a lab mouse with one hand and a scalpel in the other.The copy I saw (on YouTube) was a bit blurry and smeared, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me from noting some really nice camera work, costumes and scenery that reinforced and sometimes foreshadowed the developments in the movie...especially the scene in the daffodil laden park when "Marlowe's" ugly alter ego reasserts itself without the drug. Peter Cushing is a definite 2nd fiddle in this, but he's still a class act. And the rest of the cast keeps up nicely, especially the actor who play's Lee's mentor.This was a fine, fine example of what Amicus could do at its best and would reward the time spent by anyone who has a taste for British horror from previous decades.

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were excellent as Charles Marlowe and Edward Blake, the renamed Jekyll and Hyde, and Frederick Utterson respectively. Richard Hurndall lent strong support as Dr. Lanyon while DJ Mike Raven was extremely good for someone who wasn't a professional actor. It was nice to see Susan Jameson, Michael Des Barres and Ian McCulloch pop up in small roles. Speaking of Marlowe and Blake, I'm not sure why the characters' names were changed as I'm fairly sure that the original story was in the public domain by then but that's only a minor thing.The script wasn't as strong as "The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll", Hammer's second of three Jekyll and Hyde films in which Lee also starred, but Lee makes an infinitely better leading man than that film's star Paul Massie, a mostly and justifiably forgotten Canadian actor with an undistinguished career.

I, Monster is set at the turn of the 20th Century in London as the well respected Dr. Charles Marlowe (Christopher Lee) has been studying the recent works of Freud & is convinced that every personality has two sides & Dr. Marlowe is just as convinced that they can be separated. In his laboratory at his home Dr. Marlowe has created a serum to be injected into a subject that he hopes will prove his theory & separate the two personalities allowing the dormant one to take control, Dr. Marlowe tries his serum on a shy woman who then strips in front of him & an angry man who then reverts back tot hat of a child. Dr. Marlowe decides to carry on his experiments using himself & injects the serum into his arm, soon after Marlowe turns into a cruel & brutal thug who takes pleasure in hurting people & adopts the alias Edward Blake. Soon Dr. Marlowe's friend & lawyer Frederick Utterson (Peter Cushing) begins to suspect Blake is blackmailing Marlowe but is shocked to discover they are the same person & Marlowe is no longer able to control Blake...This British production was made by Amicus studios who were the main rivals to Hammer Studios during the glory days of the period Anglo horror cycle of the late 60's & 70's. Amicus were, & still are I suppose, best know for their cracking horror anthology films like Dr. Terror's House of Horror (1965), Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974) & The Monster Club (1981) all of which are worthwhile watching. An obvious adaptation of the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson in all but the title & the central character's name which have both been changed for some mysterious reason despite Stevenson's novel even getting an 'Inspired by' opening credit, directed by Stephen Weeks apparently because all of the other regular director's used by Amicus turned it down I, Monster is a very faithful adaptation of it's source novel & is a pretty decent horror thriller that could have been a classic if it were not for a slightly sedate pace & a general lifeless feel to the direction. The script is solid enough, the character's & dialogue are all engaging enough & it tells a good story competently enough but that's my main problem, I was never engrossed or excited by it & while it's solid & competent like I said it never goes beyond it. At just under 80 odd minutes I, Monster surprisingly drags in a couple of places but it never becomes too boring & the story unfolds at a nice pace although anyone familiar with the Jekyll and Hyde story won't find many surprises here. It's also a mystery that none of Marlowe's friends recognise Blake as the same person, I mean he doesn't look that different in all honesty. The psychological aspect of double personalities is touched upon but never goes anywhere significant & I would have liked a little more incident.Originally filmed using the Pulfrich effect to create a 3-D experience that apparently uses clever camera movement & choreography to keep the foreground moving right & the background moving left, to see the effect you apparently need to wear glasses with the right lens significantly darker than the other. I can't say I tried it or even want to but it's an odd little side-note & you can see the odd shot that looks as if it was filmed with 3-D in mind. I love all these 70's British period horror films & I, Monster is no exception with some great Victorian production design, sets & costumes. It's all very colourful & well made. There's not much blood, gore or horror here to be honest, there's a bit of blood when Blake kills a woman but other than that this is disappointingly dry. Legend has it that the money ran out during production & the makers simply had to put together what they had already shot, maybe this explains the sub 80 minute running time & the slightly rushed feel of certain scenes that seem to end rather abruptly.Released into UK cinemas in November 1971 this didn't reach US shores until April 1973, filmed here in the UK in Shepperton Studios. The acting is good from a solid cast, it's always great to see great actor's such as Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing who manage to turn mundane material into something special. Since we can class I, Monster as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde film I think Christopher Lee has played all the classic monsters including the Frankenstein monster in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula in Dracula (1957) & the Mummy in The Mummy (1959) which were all made by Hammer to add to his performance as Jekyll and Hyde here.I, Monster is almost a great a film, slightly lifeless direction & a lack of action doesn't help but the cast & solid script & story help balance it out. A good solid British horror effort from a golden era but I'm not surprised it hasn't gone down as a classic, well worth watching none the less.