Everyone has heard at least the synopsis to Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. Everyone has heard of Jack The Ripper. Edge of Sanity is a strange combination of the two tales. The result is a very sleazy but well executed film starring Anthony Perkins. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Dr. Henry Jekyll is a shy but highly regarded man of medicine. He is experimenting with a new drug he makes by mixing cocaine with well...another drug (Who cares? Cocaine is the only drug that matters here.) After accidentally exposing himself to the drug, Jekyll becomes the psychotic Jack Hyde. As Hyde he spends his nights in the rougher neighborhoods of London picking up prostitutes and eventually brutally murdering them.
Edge Of Sanity has the technical prowess of a very high end production. It's not often that you'll see something quite this trashy display it's expertise in film making. The screen is filled with sex, gore, nudity (even male full frontal), drugs, and even bi-curiosity. A film of this era with that kind of subject matter is seldom accompanied by good acting, great camera work, and surreal set pieces that create a great atmosphere.
Even though all the actors in the film are more than competent its not surprising that Anthony Perkins carries this without much assistance. We all know that Perkins can play a sexually repressed, seemingly innocent man better than just about anybody. So it's great to see him really let loose with the Jack Hyde character. The film spends most of it's time focusing on Hyde (Unlike most adaptions of the story.) There is a bit of over-acting but it works just fine. It's impressive to see Perkins become a polar opposite character that stands out visually while all he really does is let his bangs hang in his face.
All this being said, Edge of Sanity isn't as fun of a ride as it seems. The story stays pretty stagnant for much of it's duration. Jekyll becomes Hyde, Hyde starts killing prostitutes, and he continues to do just that until the climax. There aren't many wrinkles added to the narrative as it progresses. One scene depicts a very nervous Jekyll being questioned by a detective, but that's about it. Aside from yet another great performance for Perkins' catalog and a lot of sleaze, there isn't much special about this. Good for trash fans, Perkins fans, or fans of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde.
Side Note: Really cool effect early on involving a scalpel kind of scratching an eyeball. There isn't really blood, but everything looks very convincing and uncomfortable.
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