Henry Jekyll (Alan Bernhoft) experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself. Musicals are pretty much hit or miss for me, so I was intrigued to see how this would work out. I'm assuming when I was searching out all of the different takes on the story from Robert Louis Stevenson, I found this DVD and picked it up. This was a movie that I'm not entirely sure how I got turned on to it. And hey, LEEMAN52 - the 'Alice Cooper Show' ISN'T professional?!? Why in hell's name would he be so emulated then? It's Phantom Of The Opera meets Faust meets Picture Of Dorian Gray meets Rock And Roll! A bit dated now a somewhat cheesy even then, it still successfully combines black comedy, romance, Gothic horror, drama, and rock and roll musicals into a package that helped pave the way for BOTH Williams and De Palma's future work, which would immediately follow. This includes a Sha Na Na like group, a Beach Boys group, and a musical number that's parodying Alice Cooper - which everyone leaps to the wrong conclusion of being Kiss, without doing the math. If you like THIS.you REALLY should check out 1973's "Phantom Of The Paradise" with songs by Paul Williams(!) and directed by Brian De Palma! It predates Rocky Horror, and I actually like it better! Amongst all the great scenes: a trio of performers who sing in a completely different, flavor of the week style every time they take the stage. I sure couldn't finish it-and I finish darn near everything! And, sadly, it all seemed pretty dull and must I agree with the reviewer who says it's unwatchable. Sure, the folks making it may have had great intentions and energy-but it comes off as a production by folks who just aren't good enough or ready for the big time. So, when you see all the very, very glowing reviews, I can't help but wonder if they saw the same cheap film I saw or if they were family members of the film makers. As for the acting, sets, story, etc., it all looks very much like a good local community theater presentation-but no better. They seem like they were made by a very talent semi-professional and are, at times, tolerable. The songs, while not as horrible as those in "The Apple" (one of the worst musicals ever), aren't good. Technically, it's very cheap looking-with a direct to video look as well as scenes that just make no sense and seem to have no reason to be in the film (such as the guy working out and singing about Henry). Hyde Rock 'n Roll Musical" is a bad film despite the mostly very, very favorable reviews. Unless you personally know the filmmakers and are curious what they were up to that one summer, stay away. As a really, really ineptly made movie, though, it's godawful. As a mostly-sung stage show (presumably set in 1885 Britain, rather than "present day Los Angeles," justifying songs like "London Fog" that are otherwise totally illogical), "Dr Jekyll and Mr. They're reasonably catchy, the musicians seem talented, and the lyrics are standard rock-musical fare. Ideally, it would never have made it into the video stores in the first place. It seems almost mean to criticize the particulars, because this is obviously not a film that any professionals were involved with. this movie has almost nothing going for it. A total lack of narrative coherence, hilariously bad dialogue and acting, disposable characters with no motivation, excruciatingly awkward editing and really, really poor cinematography. The results are really only fit to be viewed by their family and friends. It's like four buddies in a band-with absolutely no knowledge of or talent for scriptwriting or film-making-pooled together $1000 and roped in their friends to act in the movie version of their song cycle. It's bad in the "we have absolutely no idea of how to make a movie" kind of way. Hyde" isn't bad in a fun-campy-cult-movie kind of way. but still, they have something- a fun, camp sensibility, an imaginative bizarreness, some catchy songs. The acting isn't the greatest, the film-making is a bit awkward. Even fans of "Rocky Horror" and its cult-movie ilk ("Shock Treatment," "The Apple") will admit that these kinds of movies aren't "good," per se. "Jekyll and Hyde" claims to be a rock musical from the "Rocky Horror" school of low-budget cult musicals.
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