Ironically, Baker's film, in which male Jekyll transforms into a female Hyde, was the most radically unfaithful version of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel to date and Subotsky's is arguably the most faithful of all big screen versions. The screenwriter dispenses with the romantic plot that plays such an important role in the 1931 and 1941 versions, and frankly, made those film versions a lot more dramatic than Stevenson's somewhat stogy novel. Also ironic is that with Lee and Peter Cushing, who plays Utterson, I, Monster feels more like a proper Hammer production than The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll or Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde.
Still, it would be wholly unfair to compare I, Monster to Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 classic, a film of such imagination, craftsmanship, acting expertise, iconography, and genuine scariness that I personally rate it as the greatest monster movie ever made. It's always fun to see Christopher Lee, especially when he's grappling with Peter Cushing, but Lee's performance in the title role (roles?) is fairly reserved in keeping with the source material and his own acting style, and it simply pales in comparison to that of Frederic March, who played Jekyll with a sort of joyous, horny vigor and Hyde as a malignant pup. Nevertheless, Lee mostly does a fine job of realizing the doctor and his monstrous alter-ego, except for when he starts infusing Blake with a sort of Frankenstein Monster-esque sympathy at a point in the film when Blake should be at his wickedest.
Stephen Weeks certainly does his best to work around the low-energy performances with a good deal of Mamoulian-style creativity. The director's welter of overhead, pov, fish-eye, distorted, cameo, canted, and handheld shots makes the film move along quite well. And considering how off-the-charts Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is, and how thoroughly bland The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and Victor Fleming's 1941 version are, it might not be outrageous to aver that I, Monster is the second-best serious adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Like I, Monster, itself, Reel Vault's new DVD edition is very clean but perhaps a bit too clean. There's nary a speck of dust to blemish the picture, but grain is minimal, faces can appear a bit waxy in certain shots, and there's a good deal of black crush. Audio is very satisfying, and for a budget release, this disc is extremely presentable.
