I, Monster is set at the turn of the 20th Century in London as the well respected Dr. Charles Marlowe (Christopher Lee) has been studying the recent works of Freud & is convinced that every personality has two sides & Dr. Marlowe is just as convinced that they can be separated. In his laboratory at his home Dr. Marlowe has created a serum to be injected into a subject that he hopes will prove his theory & separate the two personalities allowing the dormant one to take control, Dr. Marlowe tries his serum on a shy woman who then strips in front of him & an angry man who then reverts back tot hat of a child. Dr. Marlowe decides to carry on his experiments using himself & injects the serum into his arm, soon after Marlowe turns into a cruel & brutal thug who takes pleasure in hurting people & adopts the alias Edward Blake. Soon Dr. Marlowe's friend & lawyer Frederick Utterson (Peter Cushing) begins to suspect Blake is blackmailing Marlowe but is shocked to discover they are the same person & Marlowe is no longer able to control Blake...
This British production was made by Amicus studios who were the main rivals to Hammer Studios during the glory days of the period Anglo horror cycle of the late 60's & 70's. Amicus were, & still are I suppose, best know for their cracking horror anthology films like Dr. Terror's House of Horror (1965), Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974) & The Monster Club (1981) all of which are worthwhile watching. An obvious adaptation of the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson in all but the title & the central character's name which have both been changed for some mysterious reason despite Stevenson's novel even getting an 'Inspired by' opening credit, directed by Stephen Weeks apparently because all of the other regular director's used by Amicus turned it down I, Monster is a very faithful adaptation of it's source novel & is a pretty decent horror thriller that could have been a classic if it were not for a slightly sedate pace & a general lifeless feel to the direction. The script is solid enough, the character's & dialogue are all engaging enough & it tells a good story competently enough but that's my main problem, I was never engrossed or excited by it & while it's solid & competent like I said it never goes beyond it. At just under 80 odd minutes I, Monster surprisingly drags in a couple of places but it never becomes too boring & the story unfolds at a nice pace although anyone familiar with the Jekyll and Hyde story won't find many surprises here. It's also a mystery that none of Marlowe's friends recognise Blake as the same person, I mean he doesn't look that different in all honesty. The psychological aspect of double personalities is touched upon but never goes anywhere significant & I would have liked a little more incident.
Originally filmed using the Pulfrich effect to create a 3-D experience that apparently uses clever camera movement & choreography to keep the foreground moving right & the background moving left, to see the effect you apparently need to wear glasses with the right lens significantly darker than the other. I can't say I tried it or even want to but it's an odd little side-note & you can see the odd shot that looks as if it was filmed with 3-D in mind. I love all these 70's British period horror films & I, Monster is no exception with some great Victorian production design, sets & costumes. It's all very colourful & well made. There's not much blood, gore or horror here to be honest, there's a bit of blood when Blake kills a woman but other than that this is disappointingly dry. Legend has it that the money ran out during production & the makers simply had to put together what they had already shot, maybe this explains the sub 80 minute running time & the slightly rushed feel of certain scenes that seem to end rather abruptly.
Released into UK cinemas in November 1971 this didn't reach US shores until April 1973, filmed here in the UK in Shepperton Studios. The acting is good from a solid cast, it's always great to see great actor's such as Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing who manage to turn mundane material into something special. Since we can class I, Monster as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde film I think Christopher Lee has played all the classic monsters including the Frankenstein monster in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula in Dracula (1957) & the Mummy in The Mummy (1959) which were all made by Hammer to add to his performance as Jekyll and Hyde here.
I, Monster is almost a great a film, slightly lifeless direction & a lack of action doesn't help but the cast & solid script & story help balance it out. A good solid British horror effort from a golden era but I'm not surprised it hasn't gone down as a classic, well worth watching none the less.
This British production was made by Amicus studios who were the main rivals to Hammer Studios during the glory days of the period Anglo horror cycle of the late 60's & 70's. Amicus were, & still are I suppose, best know for their cracking horror anthology films like Dr. Terror's House of Horror (1965), Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974) & The Monster Club (1981) all of which are worthwhile watching. An obvious adaptation of the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson in all but the title & the central character's name which have both been changed for some mysterious reason despite Stevenson's novel even getting an 'Inspired by' opening credit, directed by Stephen Weeks apparently because all of the other regular director's used by Amicus turned it down I, Monster is a very faithful adaptation of it's source novel & is a pretty decent horror thriller that could have been a classic if it were not for a slightly sedate pace & a general lifeless feel to the direction. The script is solid enough, the character's & dialogue are all engaging enough & it tells a good story competently enough but that's my main problem, I was never engrossed or excited by it & while it's solid & competent like I said it never goes beyond it. At just under 80 odd minutes I, Monster surprisingly drags in a couple of places but it never becomes too boring & the story unfolds at a nice pace although anyone familiar with the Jekyll and Hyde story won't find many surprises here. It's also a mystery that none of Marlowe's friends recognise Blake as the same person, I mean he doesn't look that different in all honesty. The psychological aspect of double personalities is touched upon but never goes anywhere significant & I would have liked a little more incident.
Originally filmed using the Pulfrich effect to create a 3-D experience that apparently uses clever camera movement & choreography to keep the foreground moving right & the background moving left, to see the effect you apparently need to wear glasses with the right lens significantly darker than the other. I can't say I tried it or even want to but it's an odd little side-note & you can see the odd shot that looks as if it was filmed with 3-D in mind. I love all these 70's British period horror films & I, Monster is no exception with some great Victorian production design, sets & costumes. It's all very colourful & well made. There's not much blood, gore or horror here to be honest, there's a bit of blood when Blake kills a woman but other than that this is disappointingly dry. Legend has it that the money ran out during production & the makers simply had to put together what they had already shot, maybe this explains the sub 80 minute running time & the slightly rushed feel of certain scenes that seem to end rather abruptly.
Released into UK cinemas in November 1971 this didn't reach US shores until April 1973, filmed here in the UK in Shepperton Studios. The acting is good from a solid cast, it's always great to see great actor's such as Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing who manage to turn mundane material into something special. Since we can class I, Monster as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde film I think Christopher Lee has played all the classic monsters including the Frankenstein monster in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula in Dracula (1957) & the Mummy in The Mummy (1959) which were all made by Hammer to add to his performance as Jekyll and Hyde here.
I, Monster is almost a great a film, slightly lifeless direction & a lack of action doesn't help but the cast & solid script & story help balance it out. A good solid British horror effort from a golden era but I'm not surprised it hasn't gone down as a classic, well worth watching none the less.