A non stop assault of hard gore and soft sex, The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide is a concoction that would have had Robert Louis Stevenson rolling in his grave, although not necessarily out of anger. As the Hide' title tips you off the film's aspirations lie firmly below the belt, in fact even before the opening credits we are privy to a couple on the job. The girl is Nurse Debby (Rene Bond) and the lucky guy on top is Dr Chris Leeder (Jack Buddliner). Leeder is engaged to a sweet girl named Cynthia- but is guided by murkier motives, he's after her money and hopes to run off with it and Ms Bond. Hunting for engagement presents in a old curiously shop Leeder discovers the notebook of the original Dr Jekyll. Later Leeder returns to the shop in a feverish panic, so much so that he strangles the owner when he refuses to sell the book to him. Leeder becomes obsessed with the world of Dr Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego Mr Hide- envisioning Jekyll (Buddliner again) transforming into Mr Hide, an animated pasty faced sex killer clad in top hat, cape and cane. Limping around impressive mock Victorian sets Mr Hide is picked up by a prostitute who offers him some fun'. Unfortunately for the girl, her and Mr Hide's idea of fun are far from the same. Soon its a bareassed Mr Hide chasing the girl around the room with a whip making a bloody mess of her. You must be barmy' she tells him surely one of the cinema's great understatements. Mr Hide finishes the night with his grotesque partypiece- ramming a red hot poker in the girl's privates. Leeder daydreams more and more about Mr Hide's sex crimes each one more viler than the last. It so consumes his life that he misses his engagement party to experiment on himself. One sip of Dr Jekyll's special brew and the rolly-polly Buddliner is transformed into Miss Hide' (Jane Tsentas)- who makes her entrance in this world when her breasts burst out of Leeder's shirt. Despite her leggy, blonde appearance Miss Hide is a knife wielding nymphomaniac as lethal as her male counterpart. By night she prowls LA bars looking for men to pick up,leading to the films most infamous encounter, where Miss Hyde castrates a sailor during some back alley sex, holding the bloody member up for the stunned seaman. Leeder gets sick of reading about Mr Hide's sex crimes as well as coming home every night in knickers and a mini skirt, but fearing the law decides to Hide' out by turning back into the femme fatale. Not even Rene is ultimately safe from Miss Hide's paws and ends up dragged to the floor for a unique interpretation of Chris particularly wanted us to get together'. Under the direction of L Ray Monde (known to his mother as Lee Raymond) and money from several United Airline pilots- The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide always impresses, its bright comic book like lighting style partially belies its low budget and set bound roots. Only the fickle finger of obscurity has kept the film from being the notorious of the notorious. In a typically tender' moment Mr Hide breaks into a girl's house ties her up, rapes her, then beats her about the head with what looks like a soda siphon. Distributed by David F Friedman's EVI company the film was moderately successful, but you get the feeling that many venues decision to cut out some of the goodies' seriously weakened the film. Few films were ready and willing to go all out in the sex and horror stakes as The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide was, and justly it really has to be seen intact with all the scandal and outrage that its content incurs. There isn't any deep profound meaning to be found here- sex and violence is all that The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide is really about. Made at a time when softcore was going down for the count its very much the old guard resorting to tried and tested violent shock value to win back an audience. On its own perverse terms The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide is also an equal opportunities film offering space for its psycho male and the allure of the violent sexy female with each of the sexes dishing it out as good as the other. Its also well cast, with everyone looking like a character you'd imagine to see strolling down Hollywood Boulevard in the early Seventies. Buddliner, the most seedy of protagonists looks perfect as both gigolo Leeder or sex psycho Mr Hide. As Miss Hide, Tsentas is menacing, seductive and appropriately towers over most of the cast. Tsentas appeared in few films- although the hardcore Sacrilege in which she plays a go-go dancing Witch terrorizing a Ray Davies lookalike is well worth seeking out. One of the more famous Hide alumni is legendary cutie Rene Bond. Like Tsentas, Bond had graduated from early hardcore such as the mind boggling Girl in a Basket. Eventually the films got softer and the budgets got bigger as did her breasts thanks to the wonders of implants. The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide sees her in all her sex kitten glory, running around the surgery half naked teasing the lumbering Mr Buddliner who has all the sex appeal of a big flea's armpit. An enduring image from a film that will leave few sleazemongers short changed or with their jaws undropped. The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide is an exploitation film in everyway that matters- equal parts eye candy and eye opener.
Review of The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide
