Doctor Jekyll: A Story Based On Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & MR. Hyde By Robert Louis Stevenson

By Teresa Walker On Jun 21, 2024

Doctor Jekyll is a British gothic horror film that will be released in 2023 and will be directed by Joe Stephenson. The screenplay for the film was written by Dan Kelly-Mulhern, and Eddie Izzard will play the main character. Originally written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the source material for this version.

After having its international premiere at Fright Fest on the 25th of August 2023, the movie was finally made available to the public in the United Kingdom on the 27th of October 2023.

Let’s discuss its production overview:

Directed By: Joe Stephenson
Produced By: Liam Coutts, Joe Stephenson, Guy De Beaujeu
Based On: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & MR. Hyde By Robert Louis Stevenson
Written By: Dan Kelly-Mulhern
cinematography By: Birgit Dierkin
Edited By: Joe Stephenson, Andrew Hulme
Music By: Blair Mowat
Production Companies: B-Good Picture Company Fulwell 73
Distributed By: Hammer Studios
Countries: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: Horror Film

When Will ‘Doctor Jekyll’ Be Premiered?

Dr. Jekyll is already available to watch in theaters and on video-on-demand in the United Kingdom. The release date for the forthcoming 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD releases in the United States and the United Kingdom is still to be revealed, while the release date for the forthcoming cinema and video-on-demand releases in the United States has been confirmed to be on Friday, August 2nd, 2024.

What is the storyline of ‘Doctor Jekyll’?

Doctor Jekyll is a Horror film based on Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & MR. Hyde By Robert Louis Stevenson. In this film, Gabriel John Utterson and his cousin Richard Enfield reach the door of a huge mansion in a bustling London bystreet on their usual walk. Enfield tells Utterson that months earlier, at three in the morning, he saw Edward Hyde, a sinister-looking man, trample a young girl after unintentionally knocking into her.

Enfield made Hyde give her family £100 to avoid controversy. Hyde escorted Enfield to this door and offered him a cheque signed by Utterson’s friend and customer, Doctor Henry Jekyll. Utterson suspects Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll since Jekyll just modified his will to make Hyde the sole beneficiary in the case of his death or disappearance. After Utterson brings up Hyde, Jekyll claims he can get rid of him and urges him to drop it.

A servant witnesses Hyde beating Sir Danvers Carew, another Utterson client, to death and leaving half a broken cane a year later in October. The cops find Hyde’s residence through Utterson. After Hyde disappears, they uncover the remaining half of the broken cane, which Utterson recognizes as his gift to Jekyll. Utterson sees Jekyll, who shows him a note from Hyde apologizing for his mischief. Hyde’s handwriting resembles Jekyll’s, thus Utterson believes Jekyll forged the note to protect Hyde.

Jekyll is friendly for two months, but in early January, he refuses guests. Jekyll and Utterson’s common friend Dr. Hastie Lanyon died of shock after learning about Jekyll. Lanyon offers Utterson a letter to open after Jekyll’s death before his death. On another trip with Enfield in late February, Utterson talks to Jekyll at his lab window. Utterson is alarmed when Jekyll slams the window and disappears.

Mr. Poole, Jekyll’s butler, visits Utterson in early March and claims Jekyll has been alone in his lab for weeks. After breaking inside the lab, Utterson and Poole find Hyde’s body wearing Jekyll’s clothes, presumably dead. Jekyll wrote to Utterson. After Lanyon, Utterson reads Jekyll’s letter.

Lanyon’s letter says the trauma of watching Hyde consume a serum that changed him into Jekyll deteriorated him. Jekyll’s letter says he was morally superior openly but had secret vices and battled with humiliation. He transformed himself to indulge his vices without detection. Jekyll’s body, Hyde, was malevolent, self-centered, and indifferent. Jekyll initially controlled the transformations with the serum, but one August night, he became Hyde unwillingly.

Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Hyde. Despite this, one night he had a moment of weakness and drank the serum. Hyde, his desires having been caged for so long, killed Carew. Horrified, Jekyll tried more adamantly to stop the transformations. Then, in early January, he transformed involuntarily while awake.

Far from his laboratory and hunted by the police as a murderer, Hyde needed help to avoid capture. He wrote to Lanyon in Jekyll’s hand, asking his friend to bring chemicals from his laboratory. In Lanyon’s presence, Hyde mixed the chemicals, drank the serum, and transformed into Jekyll. The shock of the sight instigated Lanyon’s deterioration and death. Meanwhile, Jekyll’s involuntary transformations increased in frequency and required ever larger doses of the serum to reverse. It was one of these transformations that caused Jekyll to slam his window shut on Utterson.

Eventually, the supply of salt used in the serum ran low, and subsequent batches prepared from new stocks failed to work. Jekyll speculated that the original ingredient had some impurity that made it work. Realizing that he would stay transformed as Hyde, Jekyll wrote out a full account of the events. Jekyll ends by saying that he does not know if Hyde will be executed or if he will find the courage to commit suicide first, but he does not care, because he (Jekyll) is dying imminently, and whatever happens next happens to someone other than him.

Who is in the cast of ‘Doctor Jekyll’?

Actors	Role in ‘Doctor Jekyll’
Eddie Izzard	Dr. Nina Jekyll
Scott Chamber	Rob
Lindsay Duncan	Sandra Poole
Robyn Cara	Maeve
Jonathan Hyde	Henry Jekyll
Morgan Watkins	Ewan
Simon Callow	Journalist
Tony Jayawardena	Malcolm
Isabella Inchbald	Nina’s Mother

Is there a trailer for ‘Doctor Jekyll’?

Hammer Horror returns with a spooky mansion, a locked room, frightening passageways, a cellar, and a mad doctor. The official trailer of ‘Doctor Jekyll’ Has been launched. If you have not watched it yet, then you can watch it here.

Enter Doctor Jekyll’s mysterious realm. Featuring Eddie Izzard in a unique character. This horror-filled version of a classic will send shivers down your spine. Now watch the clip to see the gloomy metamorphosis.

Conclusion

A modern re-imagining of the infamous Dr. Jekyll from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Delve into the mysterious realm of Doctor Jekyll, featuring the unparalleled Eddie Izzard in an unprecedented role. This contemporary, horror-infused rendition of a classic story is sure to leave you with chills.