I, Monster

I, Monster is a 1971 British horror film directed by Stephen Weeks (his feature debut) and starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

[1] It was written by MIlton Subotsky, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with the main characters' names changed to Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake.

And his Victorian settings, in contrast to Hammer's more fanciful approach, are full of bizarrely authentic bric-a-brac and accompanied by the heavy ticking of countless clocks.

Unfortunately, despite its stylised direction and evocative trappings, I, Monster is dogged by an extremely repetitive script, and some of the performances (most noticeably from Mike Raven as Enfield) are highly stilted.

Christopher Lee is convincing as the doctor meddling with a dangerous formula, and the Victorian London atmosphere is well captured, but director Stephen Weeks's inexperience means that any complex themes are quickly abandoned, and the end result is flatter than you might expect.