Neither one good, unfortunately.
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE AFTER ONE HUNDRED YEARS is a collection of essays about the significance of the novel, what Stevenson was trying to say, how earlier drafts of the novel compare to the finished work and more. Most of it, unfortunately, cries out for the Pooh Perplex treatment — it’s very heavy on Freudian analysis (I thought that was dead and buried by the 1980s but obviously not) such as the reveal Mr. Hyde is small because he embodies Dr. Jekyll’s inadequate penis. I am … unconvinced. However there are some interesting bits of discussion so it was worth the effort.
Barring some obscurity I’ve not heard about, THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (2006) is probably my last film for the book, not counting rewatches (there’s still TV). It is, alas, a poor one to go out on. Reflecting the era when nanotech was the superscience that would change anything, Jekyll (Tony Todd) is a researcher dying of heart disease; as he can’t wait the three years to complete animal testing he injects himself covertly, creating the viciously bestial, acromegalic-looking Mr. Hyde (Todd tested the treatment on a chimpanzee so logically it turns him into an ape-man … that makes sense, right?) who hunts down women, rips them to pieces, then has sex with the corpse.
Todd is good but this is very slasher film and has a huge amount of idiot plot. For example, Jekyll transforms into Hyde during a closed-door session with his boss, whom Hyde kills — why does everyone assume “Oh, Jekyll must have left before this Hyde came by, which somehow none of us in the outer office noticed?” Tracy Scoggins plays Detective Utterson; Tim Thomerson is wasted as a sardonic medical examiner. “I haven’t had a relationship with god in a long time — but on the other hand, I’ve had more than few glimpses of the devil.”
Cover by Jack Kirby, all rights to image remain with current holder.
