Dogged by production problems, a 3D process that didn't or wouldn't work, and a script, no matter what you may read, isn't a faithful adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson story, I, MONSTER still has three very good things going for it. Christopher Lee's performance as Dr Marlowe and Mr Blake, who in all but name are Jekyll and Hyde. A performance that Lee himself said, he was very proud of.
The second would be STEPHEN WEEKS direction, he manages to keep a steady pace and draw something new out of a story that had appeared on screen many times. The third would be Peter Cushing in the thankless role of Utterson.
Yes, the pace of the film is different from any other Amicus or Hammer film. You won't find any whip pans, flash effects or comic book 'dutch tilts'...this is story telling about victorian values, very well sited and dressed in the period. There is almost an echo of the very well respected, BBC productions of M.R, James stories here. It's also very much like another Lee / Cushing vehicle THE CREEPING FLESH made some three years later, this is another tale of transformation and the repercussions of tinkering with science, the mind and 'things best left alone'!
This one is in my personal top five of...well over due a blu ray release!
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