Serum

Director: Steve Franke
Writer: Steve Franke
Producer: Jason Kabolati
Cast: Derek Phillips, David H Hickey, Dennis O’Neill
Country: USA
Year of release: 2006
Reviewed from: screener

There aren’t enough mad scientists in films nowadays. Sure, there are plenty of monsters, some of them even caused by science gone awry, but the human villains are either violent psychos or blinkered, megalomaniac authority figures. When was the last time you saw a film with a lone researcher in a well-equipped lab working on something that could save the world but which actually ends up threatening his loved ones?

Step forward Steve Franke’s Serum, a generally entertaining, well-crafted slice of mad scientist hokum. Bravo.

David H Hickey (Sin City) is Dr Edward Kanopoulos (or somesuch spelling - he’s credited as ‘Dr K’), a former MD who resigned his hospital work to concentrate on research into finding a cure for - well, it’s not really specified. ‘Being disabled’ seems to be the closest.

Long before the film starts, Edward and his brother Richard (Dennis O’Neill, who does anime voices), who is also an MD, loved the same woman. She married Richard, got hurt in a car accident and Edward was determined to find a way to restore her, ah, lack of disability. But she died anyway.

Now Edward works alone in a large, well-funded place somewhere with a sole assistant, slightly creepy looking Marx (Kevin Squires: Shroud), but plenty of armed security guards whose sole concession to a uniform is to all wear tight-fitting black T-shirts. Being a Mad Scientist, Edward has discovered that injecting brain fluid from healthy people into the physically disabled can cure them. He just needs to get the finer details right.

Richard meanwhile has remarried, to a blonde lush named Norma (Shawn Kurz) who wants her stepson Eddie (Derek Phillips: Friday Night Lights) to call her ‘Mom’. Eddie is finishing at college and has been accepted into medical school. But he has temporarily broken up with the love of his life, Sarah (executive producer Lizabeth Cardenas). Sarah is off to law school but for the moment works in a late-night diner run by single mum Kara (Betheny Zolt: Camp Blood, Alien Arsenal) and is dating aggressive meathead Trey (David Ford: A Stranger Within). Eddie’s best pal is Walt (Bill Sebastian, writer/director of sci-fi short Robots are Blue among others), a likeable part animal who is jealous that Eddie has (a) a hot stepmum and (b) a neighbour who is a millionairess widow with huge fake breasts and a penchant for sunbathing topless (Leslie Caples).

When Eddie is badly injured in a car accident, Edward persuades Richard to let him take the young man out of hospital and off to his research lab where he might be able to save him. He calls in a prostitute to provide the brain fluid and sets to work. But the experiment goes wrong - quelle surprise - so that although Eddie regains the use of his limbs, he also turns into a monster.

Well, I say monster. A mixture of fixed prosthetics and bladder effects alter Eddie’s face to something slightly acromegalic and he escapes, although he later returns to normal when he looks sadly through the diner window at Sarah. The implication seems to be that he has a sort of uncontrollable on-off , Jekyll-and-Hyde thing going on.

Eddie kills his stepmother, bringing the police in. Meanwhile, Richard and Sarah realise that something is up because the former is convinced that Eddie is lying in a research lab, badly injured while the latter is sure she saw him at the diner. They investigate the lab, are accused of murder but then exonerated when another death is reported (it’s actually Kara, though no connection is made by the cops). Then they and the local Sheriff (Lawrence Varnado: The Prodigy, The Last Tomorrow) hightail it over to a student party where Eddie is on his way to presumably kill Trey, unaware that Sarah has already dumped the big gorilla.

There’s a really bad moment here where all the kids at the party run away screaming - before Eddie has done anything. He hasn’t attacked anyone, he hasn’t killed anyone, there’s not even any indication that he has been seen by anyone. In fact, I wondered whether the kids might be too young to be drinking and they’re all running away from the Sheriff. Although that seems unlikely, given how loud they’re screaming.

Anyway, Eddie gets shot and, ah, 24 hours later I can’t even recall how the film actually ends. Truth be told, it goes downhill once we get to the third act, with monster Eddie. The stuff with his dad and his girlfriend is okay and even the Sheriff has an actual character. It’s ironic that, because most of the film is pretty good, the formulaic monster stuff is the least interesting part of the film.

In fact, there’s a question of how monstrous Eddie actually is. He is mostly presented in these scenes as a wild, subhuman thing but when he attacks his stepmother he comes out with a sub-Freddie wisecrack, indicating that he knows precisely who he is and what he’s doing, even if Mr Hyde is currently in control. Interestingly, I found a mention of the film’s shoot, around Dallas in August 2005 when it was still called Young Eddie, which describes it as ‘a modern day twist on the famed story of Dr Jekyl (sic) and Mr Hyde.’ But the whole Jekyll/Hyde thing is lost because ‘young Eddie’ only turns bad near the end and that side of the story is basically crammed into a few shots inbetween the frankly more interesting story of Richard and Sarah.

Nevertheless, for combining old-fashioned Mad Scientist hoopla with decent production values and a good cast, for mixing interesting, sympathetic characters with a plot that develops and explores those characters without getting bogged down in soap opera - I have to give Serum props for that.

Although written and directed by Steve Franke, who seems to have subsequently disappeared, the motive force behind the film appears to have been producer Jason Kabolati whose other credits include Pendulum, Rain and The Fallen as well as some reality TV series. Cinematographer/editor Clay Liford also shot From the Dark and Blood on the Highway, as well as writing and directing the sci-fi feature Earthling. Production designer Eric Whitney worked on Hallow’s End, Suburban Nightmare and The Adventures of Young Van Helsing. Joshua Fread (Dead in Texas, After Sundown) provided the special effects make-up.

Released by Brain Damage at the start of 2007, Serum was one of six films chosen to kick off the UK branch of that label in September 2009. And check out the bitchin’ Thai sleeve!

MJS rating: B+
Review originally posted 10th September 2009

Dr Jekyll vs the Werewolf

Director: Leon Klimovsky
Writer: Jacinto Molina
Producer: Arturo Gonzalez
Cast: Paul Naschy, Shirley Corrigan, Jack Taylor
Year of release: 1972
Country: Spain
Reviewed from: UK DVD (Mondo Macabro)

Paul Naschy is a horror movie legend, a one-man Spanish horror industry who is not just a creator of horror films (which he writes under his real name of Jacinto Molina) but a fan as well. The fact that his favourite film of all time ever is Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man tells you all that you need to know about this guy (though you should also read his excellent autobiography Memoirs of a Wolf Man if you get the chance).

I had the honour of interviewing Naschy on stage when he was a guest at the 2002 Festival of Fantastic Films - he’s a lovely bloke. And he makes great werewolf films.

Waldemar Daninsky, Naschy’s recurrent lycanthrope character, first appeared in 1968 in La Marca del Hombre Lobo, which was released in the UK as Hell’s Creatures and in the USA, famously, as Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, despite having no Frankenstein connection whatsoever. He was back the following year in Night of the Werewolf and again in 1971 in first Fury of the Wolf Man and then Werewolf Shadow. His encounter with Dr Jekyll was his fifth outing (and far from his last).

In a completely bonkers storyline, newlyweds Imre (Jose Marco: more than 100 films including For a Few Dollars More and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown!) and Justine (Shirley Corrigan: The Devil’s Nightmare) travel to Transylvania, where he is murdered but she is saved by the intervention of Herr Daninsky (who lives with his mother, Elizabeth Bathory!). The locals aren’t keen on the monster and drive him out, killing his mother, but he escapes with Justine who takes him back to London.

Henry Jekyll (Jack Taylor: Jess Franco’s Count Dracula, The Ninth Gate, the Mexican Neutron movies) is the grandson of the original and he also carries a torch for Justine while shrugging off the affections of his assistant Sandra (Mirta Miller, also in Naschy’s Count Dracula’s Great Love and Vengeance of the Zombies). Justine thinks Henry can cure Waldemar of his lycanthropy using his grandfather’s potion. The completely nonsensical plan is: use the potion to turn Waldemar into Mr Hyde (while safely restrained of course) on a night when a full moon is due. When the lycanthropy kicks in, Mr Hyde will 'kill' the werewolf - it is never explained how this will happen, probably because it makes no damn sense whatsoever - and an injection of the antiserum will then turn Mr Hyde back into Waldemar.

Of course things go pear-shaped, largely due to the interference of the jealous Sandra, and we are treated to some great shots of Naschy as Mr Hyde strolling though Soho on a 1971 evening (he passes a theatre where Alan Ayckbourn’s How the Other Half Loves is playing, starring Robert Morley, Jan Holden and Sheila Steafel), all togged up in pseudo-Victorian costume. This footage was shot secretly from inside a car, so the reactions of passers-by are genuine. The story goes that some drunks tried to pick a fight with Naschy because of his gear but ran off when he threatened them (oh, did I mention he was an Olympic standard weightlifter in the 1960s?). Only these exteriors were shot in London - everything else was filmed in Spain.

There is also a great scene where Hyde enters a swinging discotheque and chats up a young lady, but while she’s away from the table (she actually says, in the dubbed English dialogue, “I have to see a man about a dog”!), the potion wears off. So she returns to find Daninsky (“Who are you? Where that other fella?”) who - guess what night it is - promptly sprouts the old fur and fangs.

After many years with Naschy’s entire output unavailable in the UK (though Redemption did talk about releasing some of his stuff on VHS a few years ago), it’s great to see not one but two Naschy films out on UK DVD (Werewolf Shadow has also appeared recently). Mondo Macabro’s widescreen print is in good condition for a 30+ year-old film, with only a few barely noticeable marks at reel changes and an unfortunate loud pop on the soundtrack about halfway through. Not much detail in the shadows - of which there are quite a few! - but that’s probably more the original cinematography.

There are good bio-filmographies of principal cast and crew, and an informative essay on Spanish horror by Pete Tombs, but the highlight is a 25-minute subtitled interview with Naschy at his home in Spain, discussing both Dr Jekyll vs the Werewolf in particular and his film career in general. Like the text-based extras, this featurette is illustrated with some great posters and stills, and the interview is both a good primer for those new to the world of Naschy and a fascinating insight for more experienced Waldemar-watchers.

This is a terrific presentation of a very enjoyable film, as one would expect from Mondo Macabro. More please!

MJS rating: B+
review originally posted before November 2004

The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Rock'n'Roll Musical

Director: Alan Bernhoft
Writers: Alan Bernhoft, Robert Ricucci
Producers: Alan Bernhoft, Andre Champagne, Robert Ricucci
Cast: Alan Bernhoft, Robert Ricucci, their friends
Year of release: 2002
Country: USA
Reviewed from: UK festival screening (Festival of Fantastic Films 2002)
Official website: www.jekyllandhyderock.com

I watch a lot of movies which the average filmgoer would dismiss out of hand as ‘bad’ and I usually find something enjoyable in them, but occasionally I come across a film which is so inexcusably atrocious on every conceivable level that it leaves me alternately slack-jawed with amazement and helpless with laughter. One such is The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Rock n Roll Musical, an utterly inept, entirely humourless, totally self-indulgent vanity project the title of which is, astoundingly, not the worst thing about it.

The bad book, bad music and bad lyrics of this garbage are by Alan Bernhoft who also stars in the dual lead role, despite having neither leading man good looks nor a remarkable voice. (In fact, although the entire cast can sing, none of them have a voice which is anything other than average.) Nor, it must be said, does Bernhoft display the slightest element of acting ability, wandering woodenly through proceedings with a blank expression on his slightly pudgy face. Bernhoft and Andre Champagne produced this sorry mess, alongside screenplay co-writer Robert Ricucci (who plays a non-butler character named Poole and has a song in the gym). Champagne was also director and cinematographer and produced the (pre-film) album on which Bernhoft played all instruments and sang all the male parts.

The story is a greatly simplified version of the familiar Jekyll and Hyde tale but set in present day LA, despite a prologue showing Robert Louis Stevenson writing the story at his home in Bournemouth. Some idea of how amateurish this whole project is can be gained from the use of a clearly American timberboard house and a caption which reads ‘Bournesmouth, England’! The film’s ‘plot’ is progressed largely through songs with tunes which plumb previously unexplored levels of blandness, and lyrics that display not one iota of wit or wordplay. Characters simply sing who they are and what they’re doing in the most prosaic terms imaginable.

Watching this garbage, one cannot help thinking of the musical version of The Elephant Man seen briefly in The Tall Guy or Spinal Tap’s aborted Jack the Ripper musical (“Saucy Jack, you’re a naughty one...”) - or even Springtime for Hitler. But if TDJAMHRNRM is also a spoof of bad musicals, there is nothing to indicate such - it appears to genuinely be a (very) bad musical. Among the more tasteless numbers is Hyde’s appearance in a bar (called The Baked Potato) where he grabs the mike and sings, with the rock band on stage, a song about how he loves “little girls” including references to sitting on Daddy’s knee and offering candy - all the while groping a hooker in a leather bra. Jesus!

Then, just as one imagines this pile of crap can get no worse, Hyde takes the hooker back to his apartment where they can be alone - apart from the film crew member clearly visible in the corner of the room!

This is a terrible film of a really terrible musical. Other lowlights include: a detective who does absolutely nothing; a character whose front room is full of U-matic video tapes for some reason (the reason being that Bernhoft and Champagne apparently shot the film in their own homes); a dream sequence when Jekyll imagines himself in Victorian London for no apparent reason, the effect being achieved by green-screening him onto still photographs of landmarks!; and the way that every scene fades to black like the end of a pop video.

The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Rock'n'Roll Musical is far and away the worst film I have seen for many years, and almost certainly the worst musical ever made. It also has a really badly designed website which scarily reveals that Bernhoft has written five other musicals and 2,400 songs! Christ on a bike!

MJS rating: D-
review originally posted 29th November 2004

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Director: Mark Redfield
Writers: Mark Redfield, Stuart Voytilla
Producers: Mark Redfield, Stuart Voytilla
Cast: Mark Redfield, Elena Torrez, Carl Randolph
Year of release: 2002
Country: USA
Reviewed from: UK festival screening (FFF 2002)

Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1896 novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is probably the most filmed of all the classic horror tales (there were about 20 silent versions!) yet nobody has ever thought to actually film the book as Stevenson wrote it. The original work is not the sad tale of Jekyll’s gradual descent into the dark side but is a mystery, with Utterson (lawyer) and Lanyon (doctor) attempting to discover who the mysterious Edward Hyde is and what sort of hold he has over their friend Henry Jekyll.

Mark Redfield’s superb film (shot in 2001 but delayed because of post-WTC problems) is the first attempt to follow the plot of the book - and a successful attempt without a doubt. Redfield has added a few new scenes and minor characters for storytelling purposes but to all intents and purposes the first 80 minutes of this movie is Stevenson’s novella. The final half-hour is Redfield’s own invention, and it is entirely to his credit that the transition is smooth and seamless, and his ending is entirely consistent with the RLS tale.

Shot on a low budget in Baltimore, the film betrays its origins in Redfield’s stage adaptation but uses its limitations well, with a few classical sets and green-screen work used for most exteriors. The mostly American cast are excellent, with most of the accents believable (certainly none stray into Keanu Reeves territory!) but special mention must be made of Redfield’s own performances as both Jekyll and Hyde. Looking superb in both halves of the role - thanks to the outstanding work of costume designers Suzanne Griver and Margo Harvey and make-up artist Robert Yoho - Redfield is suave and debonair as Jekyll, sinister and scary as Hyde. As the latter he sports contact lenses that make his pupils look contacted and a hideous grin which raises his cheekbones; this Hyde certainly owes more to the John Barrymore’s creepy low-life than Fredric March’s hairy beast-man.

Along the way, Redfield works in a Jack the Ripper connection, a reference to Conan Doyle, and a cameo appearance by the Brothers Lumiere(!). The ending is tense and disturbing and, having departed from Stevenson’s work, a shock to the whole audience. The production as a whole is thoroughly professional and the film proves that new life can be breathed into even the hoariest old story. Unreservedly recommended.

MJS rating: A

review originally posted before November 2004

[This film was released on DVD in 2004, including an insert written by me. - MJS