Edge of Sanity (1989)

Edge of Sanity (1989) ** 1/2 (out of 4) As a young child, Henry Jekyll was severely beaten by his father after getting caught watching him with a prostitute. Flash forward several decades and Jekyll (Anthony Perkins) is a highly respected doctor who accidentally takes a potion that turns him into a mass murderer.EDGE OF SANTIY is a very flawed movie but at the same time there are a lot of interesting things in it. Director Gerard Kikoine made some adult movies early in his career and he certainly doesn't shy away from the sexuality because that is on 100% blast and especially when you compare it to other horror movies from this era. Obviously you want to watch the unrated version, which clocks in at 90-minutes, a full five-minutes longer than the R-rated version that was shown in American theaters.The film benefits from really taking a perverted spin on the classic Jekyll and Hyde story. Sexuality was always a part of the novel and it came into play for a few of the screen adaptations but never quite like this. There's a lot of kinky sex on display as well as plenty of nudity. You've also got some very graphic murders, which were obviously a nod to the Jack the Ripper killings. Many of the prostitutes here are slashed up very brutally so this movie certainly scores in regards to its adult nature.Of course, the greatest thing going for the movie is the performance of Perkins. As Norman Bates proved, the actor could play various ranges and I thought he was perfect here. He's certainly believable as the kind doctor but he also brings a certain coldness to the role of the killer. The supporting cast are good as well. As I said, there are some flaws including the pacing of the picture and the fact that there's really no story at all. Everything is just set up to get to the next nude woman and next killing.EDGE OF SANITY might not be a complete success but it's European feel and its willingness to show skin and violence makes it worth watching.

Here's a sleazy take on the old Jekyll and Hyde story - with all the gratuitous sex and violence you would expect from infamous exploitation producer Harry Alan Towers, and then some! EDGE OF SANITY is an utterly bizarre film; the majority of it takes place in standard period setting, with atmospheric camera-work on the cobbled alleyways at night and authentic buildings. Then it suddenly jumps to the interior of a brothel where we are introduced to characters wearing openly '80s leather fashions and hairstyles and the whole period realism thing comes crashing down.Plot coherence is the least of this film's qualities. Headling the lead role of the disturbed killer is none other than that old PSYCHO himself, Anthony Perkins, whose maniacal performance is something of an art form in itself. Perkins is bloody convincing as Hyde, achieving his transformation through red-rimmed eyes and white makeup alone, and he's also very scary indeed. It's a tribute to the actor how he could create two so opposing sides of the same character in the same movie, and he throws aside any subtlety from previous performers like Fredric March in favour of in-your-face deformity and madness. Basically, he's riveting, and it's a good thing too when the rest of the film is almost worthless.There isn't much plot, so to speak of, and the police investigation seems tacked on and pointless. Every supporting actor and actress is wasted in their roles, either becoming stock story figures or, in the case of the women, pure sexuality. The only other actress to have any impact is Glynis Barber as Jekyll's wife, as she manages to give her long-suffering partner a sympathetic angle which makes her likable. But the only person to be really characterised is Perkins.The murder scenes are quite disturbing to watch, seeing as that they are all very explicit and sexually-driven (not surprisingly, it appears the film was heavily cut here in the UK). There's a lot of fumbling and groping amid the bloody throat-slashings and it's incredible some of the stuff that Perkins does in the film - does this man have no morals? The film is far too arty in places, with lots of closeups of distorted faces along with odd lighting and camera angles which look good but signify nothing, yet Perkins' tour-de-force performance is worth watching alone, and very unsettling with it. Without him EDGE OF SANITY would be worthless, but with him it becomes an interesting - and bizarre - character study of madness and duel personality.

Anthony Perkins plays Dr. Jekyll who after a lab incident caused by his guinea monkey turns him into the sinister Mr. Hyde. Soon the bodies start popping up all over London.The story is well known, but we get a little twist here. The twist being that Mr. Hyde is actually Jack the Ripper. I really liked the fusing of these two stories. It gave the film another dimension to it. Edge of Sanity is a surprisingly sleazy film too, thank goodness. One J.P. Félix is one of the two writers credited with the screenplay. This Félix is apparently actually one of smut peddler Jess Franco's many pseudonyms. It's hardly surprising then that we get regular doses of nudity and some not overly gratuitous violence. We even get the odd humor on occasion. Just watch as the rabid Mr. Hyde has bent a prostitute over the table inspecting her butt and we see her bored face. He's just another weird customer with a fetish. The script is pretty good, but without knowing exactly what, I still felt that a certain something to put it over the top was missing.Anthony Perkins shines as the star of the show. He balances nicely between the two personalities. Perkins has a very charming side, as we've seen in Psycho, which can change in an second. In this film his psychotic features are enhanced with make-up, giving him more of a wax figure look. It looks supremely creepy. In several instances he reminded me of the zombified Stephen from Dawn of the Dead (1978). The story is really a sad one. Dr. Jekyll is only a man traumatized during childhood years and his decent into madness starts off as an unfortunate accident. Jekyll is more a victim of circumstance than anything. He accidentally inhales the smoke from the broken glasses unaware of what the mix will do to him. Unfortunately for the good doctor the effects have fatal consequences. Jekyll's smoking device looks like a crack pipe. This film came in 1989, which was at a time when crack was at its height in the US. Edge of Sanity appears to be a cautionary tale covered in layers of filth. We see Perkins trying to resist it, but his demons get the better of him. His spiral downwards is very well depicted. We see the raving madman and a cold and calculating monster that is Mr. Hyde gradually taking over Jekyll. This is perfectly realized in a party scene, where the topic of freedom is brought up. Jekyll wonders what anyone really knows about freedom. "I thought I was free?" retorts one of the posh ladies. The doctor starts talking about freedom to do whatever we feel like. You see something you like and you take it. The other guests are a tad upset by this, but Jekyll rages calmly on. "You all act as if our manners, our morality, were handed to us by God." With skeptical eyes she replies: "But they are." Perkins continues: "No madam, they're not. We made them up by mutual agreement. But what if I don't agree?" He goes from the dinner table leaving the others in shock. There is a distinct flavor of Nietzsche's philosophy here, which is the rejection of morality as an absolute truth. I doubt Nietzsche would have approved Mr. Hyde's thoughts of doing whatever one feels like, but accepting that life is essentially meaningless is key. The other dinner guests' refusal to accept this makes them passive nihilists. The active nihilist on the other hand sees opportunity to build something instead of hiding in fear behind religion. Jekyll/Hyde is somewhere in between. He rejects God and morality, but instead of building he tears the world apart. And, fortunately for him, in a society as judgmental as this, who would expect that any well educated person could possibly be behind such atrocious crimes? The technical aspects of Edge of Sanity are simply outstanding! The camera-work is impeccable with lots of crooked angels, intruding close-ups of Mr. Hyde and smooth dolly shots. The lighting and use of colors are strong and vivid adding additional delirium. There are gorgeous set-pieces to feast our eyes on. You really couldn't ask for more. In a lot of ways this has an adult Tim Burton feel to it.Edge of Sanity is a nice and creepy horror film. For some reason, despite all its accomplishments I still felt slightly detached to it all. That however, shouldn't deter anyone looking for a sleazy horror with originality, a menacing Perkins and production values far beyond your normal fright flick.

The umpteenth adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and probably one of the worst and most clueless versions ever made. In fact, the only one I can recall that is worse is "The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hyde", but that was a no-budget sex movie and constantly showed an ugly naked fat guy on the screen. This movie had sufficient budget and even managed to attract "Psycho" star Anthony Perkins, but notwithstanding it remains a terrible waste of time. The synopsis caught my attention, as the plot attempts to link the Jekyll & Hyde saga to the notoriously unsolved Jack the Ripper murder-spree. Hammer Films accomplished something similar during the early 70's with "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde", and the result was a sublime and hugely inventive horror movie. A hybrid between Jekyll and Hyde and Jack the Ripper must be a thrilling and intriguing concept, but unfortunately "Edge of Sanity" is a dud of a film. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a traditional and mostly psychological tale of terror, whereas this is an ordinary 80's slasher movie. It's supposed to revolve on the inner battle between good and evil, but "Edge of Sanity" is simply an excuse to depict vile and misogynist murders, pseudo-pornographic sleaze footage and drug abuse. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a happily married and brilliant medical scientist working on the development of a new and groundbreaking anesthetic. When his lab monkey knocks over some test tubes, Jekyll inhales the fumes and transforms into his malignant and depraved alter ego Jack Hyde. Hyde vividly remembers Jekyll's Freudian childhood traumas and uses them as an excuse to go out on the lurid London streets and sadistically butcher prostitutes. And when we say "sadistically", you may take this very literal. The murder sequences are extremely perverse and repulsive, with loads of hideously slit throats, mutilated corpses and nasty S&M attributes. It's also more than obvious that director Gérard Kikoïne has a past in the adult film industry. The sex scenes leave very little to the imagination and the orgies and hallucinations are even downright sordid, including bits and pieces of cane-masturbation, voyeurism, the Oedipus complex and crucifixion. It's truly revolting to witness how such a classic and brilliant story of genuine horror receives such a cheap and exploitative makeover! Shame on you, Mr. Perkins!