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Dr. Heckyl And Mr. Hype

1980, Movie, R, 99 mins

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This mildly funny satire of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde casts Oliver Reed as Dr. Heckyl, a genuinely nice but repulsive-looking podiatrist who works at a clinic run by Dr. Hinkle (Mel Welles, "Mr. Mushnik" from the original LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS). Depressed by his ugliness, Heckyl attempts suicide by drinking a weight-reduction potion, but instead of killing him, the serum transforms Heckyl into the handsome and dashing Mr. Hype. Unfortunately, as Mr. Hype, he also has homicidal tendencies. DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE was scripted and directed "with apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson" by Roger Corman collaborator Charles B. Griffith, who also penned the camp classics BUCKET OF BLOOD and THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Despite its often sophomoric humor (take a gander at the character names), the movie is ultimately amusing in a vulgar sort of way, though Griffith's direction adds little and his film has a downright ugly look. leave a comment
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