The only other time my path has crossed that of grubby auteur (urghteur?) Walerian Borowczyk was for his infamous 1975 film The Beast. Emerging from the same post-Hays Code generation as Ken Russell and Michael Winner, Borowczyk's censor-baiting specialty was sex. Another art-porn touchstone is Pier Paolo Pasolini, although at least Borowczyk has a detectable sense of humour in pursuit of his exploitation.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne – to give it the director's preferred title after it was renamed Docteur Jekyll et les femmes – is a slasher of the trashiest sort (a trasher?), focusing on the relationship between Jekyll (Udo Kier), Hyde (a devilishly creepy Gerard Zalcberg), and Fanny Osbourne (Marina Pierro). We first meet Jekyll and Osbourne as they are entertaining guests, come to celebrate their engagement. Then, a murder. Another. The bodies start piling up. Suspecting the not-so-good doctor, Fanny discovers her fiancé's secret... and chooses to join him in his experiments in "transcendental science".
A knowing attack on taste and decency is evident from the off: Borowczyk opens with some painterly compositions, exquisitely lit and lusciously diffused, and proceeds to intercut with images of murder and rape. There's an eerie dream-like quality to some of the early setups, aided by some grimy drone music by electronic pioneer Bernard Parmegiani. But nonsensical plotting and poor pacing stalks the shadows, waiting to pounce. And the most notable knife victim is the editing, which frequently fails at the basic task of depicting who's where in relation to whom.
Borowczyk, to his credit, is clearly aware of the preposterousness of his play, wisely employing the likes of Patrick Magee – always good value – to give us a gloriously OTT army general, who at one point shoots the wrong guy and apologises by saying, "This is war... The soldier fires; the good Lord carries the bullets." But it's not enough to defend against the onset of cheap kinkiness, bad acting, worse dialogue, and weirdly tame stabbings. Any surprise? We are talking about the guy who made Emmanuelle 5, here.
Some oddities, it seems, are better off consigned to the past. But if the promise of seeing Udo Kier writhe naked in a bath of beef stock is tempting, be my guest.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne – to give it the director's preferred title after it was renamed Docteur Jekyll et les femmes – is a slasher of the trashiest sort (a trasher?), focusing on the relationship between Jekyll (Udo Kier), Hyde (a devilishly creepy Gerard Zalcberg), and Fanny Osbourne (Marina Pierro). We first meet Jekyll and Osbourne as they are entertaining guests, come to celebrate their engagement. Then, a murder. Another. The bodies start piling up. Suspecting the not-so-good doctor, Fanny discovers her fiancé's secret... and chooses to join him in his experiments in "transcendental science".
A knowing attack on taste and decency is evident from the off: Borowczyk opens with some painterly compositions, exquisitely lit and lusciously diffused, and proceeds to intercut with images of murder and rape. There's an eerie dream-like quality to some of the early setups, aided by some grimy drone music by electronic pioneer Bernard Parmegiani. But nonsensical plotting and poor pacing stalks the shadows, waiting to pounce. And the most notable knife victim is the editing, which frequently fails at the basic task of depicting who's where in relation to whom.
Borowczyk, to his credit, is clearly aware of the preposterousness of his play, wisely employing the likes of Patrick Magee – always good value – to give us a gloriously OTT army general, who at one point shoots the wrong guy and apologises by saying, "This is war... The soldier fires; the good Lord carries the bullets." But it's not enough to defend against the onset of cheap kinkiness, bad acting, worse dialogue, and weirdly tame stabbings. Any surprise? We are talking about the guy who made Emmanuelle 5, here.
Some oddities, it seems, are better off consigned to the past. But if the promise of seeing Udo Kier writhe naked in a bath of beef stock is tempting, be my guest.