I, Monster (1971)
Directed by Stephen Weeks

Film Review

In the autumn of 1971 British cinema audiences were treated to not one but two adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, made by rival companies Hammer and Amicus.  As part of a calculated strategy to revamp its horror output, Hammer opted for a more left-field interpretation of Stevenson's novella, with the hideous Mr Hyde being replaced by a seductive but deadly female who passes herself off as Dr Jekyll's sister.  Coming along just a few weeks after Hammer's risqué Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971), Amicus's I, Monster must have seemed chronically old hat, a straight book-to-screen adaptation of the Jekyll and Hyde story that was everything Hammer was trying to get away from.  The only innovation Amicus made was the inexplicable renaming of its protagonists, Jekyll and Hyde becoming Marlowe and Blake.  (The literary allusion is subtle and arcane - William Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus both dealing with the subject of wedded opposites that reflect man's dual nature).

I, Monster was to have been released in cinemas as a 3D film but these plans were aborted midway through production when the difficulties (or rather the cost) of making a 3D film became apparent.  This partly explains why the film doesn't quite work.  Some of the character movement and camera motion are overly distracting, their only function being to serve the redundant 3D effect.  Other scenes appear hideously static, with characters merely sitting around and churning out reams and reams of tedious plot exposition.  Milton Subotsky attributed the film's failure to Stephen Weeks' direction but he was responsible for the screenplay, which is needlessly wordy and lacking the sparkle he brought to some of his other films.  Weeks would later distinguish himself with Ghost Story (1974) but here, directing his first feature at the age of 22, he appears out of his depth.

Whilst the film certainly has its failings - verbose, unevenly paced and poorly lit being its main shortcomings - it does have one saving grace, a superb central performance from Christopher Lee.  Lee's portrayal of the good doctor and his evil alter ego differs from earlier screen interpretations in that it is frighteningly easy to see the two characters as two facets of the same man.  The monstrous Blake is not a completely different persona but merely an exaggerated, less contained version of the respectable Victorian doctor Marlowe.  This is apparent throughout the film, even when Blake's appearance becomes increasingly disfigured.  In one of the subtlest performances of his career, Lee gives Stevenson's fanciful novella a chilling reality, by allowing us to perceive Hyde's evil in Jekyll's seemingly benign countenance.  When the transformation first takes place the only noticeable change in Marlowe's appearance is the acquisition of a broad grin - the most terrifying grin you are ever likely to see.

If Christopher Lee had the opportunity to flex his acting muscles, the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, most of whom appear terminally bored with the whole venture.  Peter Cushing, Lee's habitual sparring partner, is frankly wasted in a lacklustre role that requires no great acting skill.  Apart from Lee, the only member of the cast who is favoured by the screenplay is Susan Jameson, who gets to be transformed from repressed Victorian miss to brazen hussy.  The rest (Mike Raven, Richard Hurndall, Marjie Lawrence, etc.) are merely going through the motions, so-so performances to match a so-so script.  In fact, given the quality of the script he has to work with, and hampered with the 3D / no 3D setback, Stephen Weeks does a remarkably good job of salvaging what he can from a near disaster.  Amidst the drift and dross there are few inspired touches, such as a totally eerie dream, sequence, and overall the film stands up surprisingly well.  I, Monster may not be the most polished adaptation of Stevenson's novella but it is strangely alluring, a haunting meditation on mankind's greatest curse, his inescapable dual nature.

Film Synopsis

Charles Marlowe is a London psychologist who believes he has found a drug that is capable of suppressing an individual's super ego, thereby allowing him to act freely without moral constraint.  Having tested the drug on two of his patients, Marlowe tries it on himself and is transformed into a monster who delights in inflicting cruelty on others.  Marlowe christens his evil alter ego Edward Blake and instructs his lawyer to change his will so that, in the event of his death, Blake will inherit his entire estate.  Marlowe regards his experiment as a success, until he realises that Blake is a conscienceless killer who risks taking him over completely...