Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide/DVD Review

Image Entertainment and Something Weird's DVD presents the film in the full frame format and the transfer is immaculate. The source print was taken from an original negative and contains a few minor scratches, but overall it looks incredible. There are sequences that look as if they were shot recently instead of almost thirty years ago. The audio is decent, but there is at least one reel that sounds as if the entire soundtrack, dialogue and all, came off of a vinyl record album as there are pops and hisses throughout it.

The disc also contains a commentary track, featuring producer David L. Friedman and Something Weird owner Mike Vraney, which is very informative and generally free of dead areas. Friedman recalls a great amount of details about the making of the film (including the fact that it was financed by a bunch of airline pilots!) and at times even talks over Vraney's prompts. His recollection of the days when he made exploitation films is interesting, especially when discussing how the films would be cut differently in different states. He's at his most interesting though when he's discussing how people who are offended by his films can remedy the situation without preventing the people who DON'T get offended by them from being able to see them. He also discusses why the film is mistitled as Jekyll and HIDE instead of HYDE as the Stevenson novel originally had it spelled.

Vraney obviously has a great love for the films he releases on DVD and this love shows, not only in the quality and subject of the films he releases, but also in the extras that are packed onto the discs. Besides the commentary track, the disc also contains a theatrical trailer and a still gallery of exploitation films (with such great titles as Ramrodder and Thar She Blows). With this film and others like it, and the release of H.G. Lewis's films, Image and Something Weird solidify their presence as one of the best purveyors of classic cult cinema in the US.