The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Miss Osbourne – Arrow Video (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1981
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Writer: Walerian Borowczyk
Cast: Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Patrick Magee, Gérard Zalcberg, Howard Vernon, Clément Harari Sirpa Lane

Release Date: April 20th, 2015 (UK), May 12th, 2015 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 91 Minutes 17 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono French, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free/Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $39.95 (USA)

"It's the engagement party for brilliant young Dr Henry Jekyll (Udo Kier) and his fiance, the beautiful Fanny Osbourne (Marina Pierro), attended by various pillars of Victorian society, including the astonishing Patrick Magee in one of his final roles.

But when people are found raped and murdered outside and ultimately inside the house, it becomes clear that a madman has broken in to disrupt the festivities - but who is he? And why does Dr Jekyll keep sneaking off to his laboratory?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "The original camera was used to make this brand new 2k transfer which was created exclusively for this release. And thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed for this film’s restoration."

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Miss Osbourne comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.4 GB

Feature: 26.2 GB

For a film that has been nearly impossible to see on home video, it is hard to imagine that it could ever look better than it does in this release. This Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne has a very distinct look, and this transfer does a remarkable job preserving it.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with two audio options: a LPCM mono mix in French and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio mixes sound clean, clear, balanced, and robust when they need to. Range and depth wise, things far exceeded my expectations. With this film's unsettling score, and the more ambient aspects of the soundtrack being well represented. When it comes to the two subtitle tracks included with this release, the English subtitles are a direct translation, while the English SDH subtitles are a direct translation of the English audio mix.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer that has three viewing options: Voice-over narration, Parmegiani music and audio commentary with editor Khadicha Bariha (1 minute 14 second, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), two short films, the first one directed by Walerian Borowczyk titled Happy Toy (2 minutes 17 seconds, LPCM mono) and the second short film directed byAlessio Pierro and Marina Pierro titled Himorogi (16 minutes 58 seconds, LPCM stereo), an interview with actor Udo Kier (11 minute 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Marina Pierro (20 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Alessio Pierro (10 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Sarah Mallinson who discusses Walerian Borowczyk and Peter Foldes (10 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a visual essay by Daniel Bird, the about composer Bernard Parmegiani titled Eyes That Listen (10 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a visual essay titled Appreciation by Michael Brooke (32 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Return to Méliès: Borowczyk and Early Cinema (6 minutes and 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary that contains an archival interview with director Walerian Borowczyk and new interviews with cinematographer Noel Very, editor Khadicha Bariha, assistant Michael Levy, and filmmaker Noel Simsolo, moderated by Daniel Bird in English and French with removable English subtitles, reversible covert art and 40-page booklet that contains cast & crew information, contemporary reviews for the film, An Introduction and Script Extract written by Walerian Borowczyk, an essay titled A Bath Full of Solicor written by Daniel Bird, an essay titled The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Miss Osbourne written by Andre Pieyre de Mandiarggues, an essay about Happy Toy written by Daniel Bird, an essay about Himorogi written by Daniel Bird and information about the restoration/transfer.

Included with this release is a DVD that has the same content as the Blu-ray included as part of this combo release.

Summary:

Walerian Borowczyk is one of cinema’s true auteurs. He was a very hands-on filmmaker who infused his ideas into every facet of the filmmaking process. No detail was ever too small, and everything that appeared in his cinematic frame was given the utmost attention and care.

So it should not come as a surprise that when he was given a chance to make a film about Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, that the end result was an adaptation that, like anything that he created before, could only come from his imagination. And though the remnants of Stevenson’s novella have survived and made it into The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, the most potent content in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne is the stuff that was inspired by the novella. Most notably, was the creation of the fiancée character, Miss Osbourne. This type of character would not emerge until a later adaption of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Content-wise, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne not only has all the ingredients that one would want and expect from a Walerian Borowczyk film. He also revisits several themes that he has explored in previous films and brings said themes to their artistic apex. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this film is the way it depicts sex and violence, a lot of which appears off-screen. The aftermath of these events more than spells out what has just happened.

From a production standpoint, there is not an area where The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne does not excel. The film’s striking visuals, which border somewhere between dreams and nightmares, are a feast for the eyes. The opening sequence, in which Mr. Hyde stalks and kills a young girl, is a prime example of a scene that perfectly sets the tone for what is yet to come. Of course, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne's standout moment visually is the transformation sequences of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde and Miss Osbourne into her unnamed alter ego. Another striking moment visually is a scene where the main character narrowly escapes death at the hands of Mr. Hyde, who is sexually ravishing his daughter while he is restrained, and to top this moment off, she flaunts her pleasure in her father’s face. And not to be overlooked is this film’s final act, which brings everything that had been building up to a boiling point. This includes Mr. Hyde and Miss Osbourne killing off any remaining guests and burning down their home.

Performance wise, the entire cast is exceptional in their respective roles, with this film’s standout performance coming from Udo Kier (Flesh for Frankenstein, Blood for Dracula) in the role of Dr. Henry Jekyll. He provides the Jekyll character with just the right amount of balance so that when the Hyde character arrives, there is little if anything connecting the two characters. Also, in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, going against the grain by having another actor, Gérard Zalcberg, portray Hyde. Instead of the more customary way of having one actor portray the dual roles, the character of Mr. Hyde is a man of few words and more of psychic presence. And in this regard, Zalcberg turns in a pitch-perfect performance.

Other standout performances include Marina Pierro (L’innocente, The Living Dead Girl) in the role of Miss Fanny Osbourne and Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) in the role of a military general. At times, Pierro delivers a mesmerizing performance that at times comes very close to overshadowing Keir's equally outstanding performance. There is a scene in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne where Magee’s character is bound and attacked. If this moment gives you an odd feeling of déjà vu, it is because he has a very similar moment in the film A Clockwork Orange. Fans of Euro-Cult cinema are sure to recognize one more face, and that is Jess Franco regular Howard Vernon (Alphaville, The Diabolical Dr. Z) in the role of Dr. Lanyon, a colleague of Dr. Jekyll.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne gets a definitive release from Arrow Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extra content, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer