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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913) - Herbert Brennon

The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde is a famous story by Robert Louis Stevenson that has been adapted for the screen more times than Dracula. However, it is not as good as Dracula. It doesn’t have that spark that does it for me. That one thing that really scares me. That is what I expect when I am watching a horror movie. This is a good try though.

The problem that I have with this franchise is that this horse has been beaten. This particular adaptation, which came out 1 year after the previous, features King Baggot as the good doctor Jekyll. Doctor Jekyll takes his potion one time and turns into the biggest annoyance ever. For his first act of menace he goes to a dance hall and screams at them. Then he leaves. Proud of himself. The most shocking thing in the movie finally comes when he chases a crippled child down and beats him for no reason. What the hell?

Although bizarre, this film has some high points. SOME of the transformation scenes are good. Some of them. Others are rubbish. I like the path the film follows as well, all be it sometimes hazy and hard to follow.

S!D
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