Hammer Films released a new official trailer for the britih gothic horror film ‘Doctor Jekyll’. The film is an adaptation of one of the most famous English novella, 1886’s ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Eddie Izzard stars as the titular character, Dr. Nina Jekyll.
Alongside Izzard, starring the film are Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow, Jonathan Hyde Morgan Watkins, and Robyn Cara.
The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Frightfest, and was released in the United Kingdom last year on October 27, 2023.
Release Date
Directed by Joe Stephenson, ‘Doctor Jekyll’ opens in select US theaters and on VOD August 2, 2024.
Synopsis
Dr Nina Jekyll makes a fortune in the pharmaceutical industry and becomes a household name, but her success comes at a cost. A scandal forces her out of the spotlight and into seclusion. In need of an assistant, Jekyll hires Rob, an ex-con straight out of rehab who is trying to get back on his feet. It soon becomes clear that there are evil forces at play, and Rob’s wits are tested in a game of cat-and-mouse with a manipulative entity.
Director Joe Stephenson talked about adapting the original novella in an interview with Comicon.com, saying “I felt that with a story so familiar to so many people there’s no need to be religiously faithful, the challenge here was how to make it feel fresh and yet still true to the themes of the original work. Can we find ways to surprise people when they already think they know where it is going? Stevenson’s work becomes a storytelling toolbox, and the novella is such a wonderful one to play in as a filmmaker. It is one of the great classics of literature and part of doing a new version is certainly to inspire new generations to revisit the original, but also seeing what it can say about the world we live in today.”
Reviews
Lillian Crawford in a Little White Lies review praised the film, giving it a 3/5 score, writing “Doctor Jekyll revives a missing element of British cinema – you can see the walls shaking, the cheapness of the props, the hamminess of the acting. But that’s what Hammer is all about, the sort of horror that has you laughing one minute and throwing your popcorn in the air in fright the next. Izzard also subverts the fear of gender that has long haunted horror cinema by both playing to and away from the ongoing ‘trans scare’.”
Todd Gilchrist in a Variety review gave the film a less glowing review, writing “Though Stephenson finds a more-than-game collaborator in Izzard as both the good and evil doctor, “Doctor Jekyll” is meandering and empty, an update with neither enough loyalty to its source material or imagination to make its departures meaningful.”
Official Trailer
Watch the new official trailer for ‘Doctor Jekyll’.