*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Those who have been dogging Edge Of Sanity should have known what they were getting into before they watched this film -- the film summaries on the video packaging alone gave enough warning that this was going to be a twisted story full of perverse material. I for one am not afraid to say I really LIKE this film! I first saw it in an "unrated" edition on VHS back when it was first released on home video in the late 1980s, and I was enthralled. Now, MGM has released it on DVD in what I think is the closest to that unrated version there is, if in fact it is "re-edited" like the notice on IMDb. I wouldn't be surprised if this DVD edition was actually that original unrated version, as many titles have been showing up on MGM DVD in uncut editions with the original MPAA rating on the cover.
While experimenting with anesthetics, Dr. Henry Jekyll accidentally inhales fumes from an altered drug. This unleashes not only ability to act out his inhibitions, it unleashes repressed sexual feelings he had experienced as humiliation during his childhood. He then goes on a killing spree, murdering prostitutes in the area (possibly to get back at the woman who laughed and taunted him in his childhood?). He also obsesses over a prostitute named Susannah that looks just like that woman from his past, and rather than kill her he relishes in her similarly shared dark nature when he gets her to inhale the drug. Note that near the ending, Johnny is hanging upside down while Susannah laughs maniacally, mirroring the opening scene. This brings the film full circle. It's a fascinating idea that Henry Jekyll/Jack Hyde is also Jack The Ripper.
Yes, Edge Of Sanity is sinister, twisted, perverse, and trashy. It's also lavish, elegant, and beautifully done, and downright intriguing. The cinematography is excellent (the DVD is a vast improvement over the old VHS of Unrated and R versions), the costumes are a wow, and the music score is superb as well as appropriate to the scenes it enhances. A lot of imagination went into this production, and it's unfair to say it's an inappropriate film. I found it to be more disturbing and wickedly fun than the more recent FROM HELL (which was more a CGI visual feast) and more sexually appropriate than the grandiose arthouse T&A of EYES WIDE SHUT.
There's a fair amount of sex, nudity (more full frontal male nudity in a bathhouse scene than the topless prostitutes combined), and even a hint of male bisexuality during Hyde's tryst with Susannah and Johnny. It also says a lot about how things haven't changed so much in society's decadence in issues of drugs and sex. The only thing that I found distracting was that during the rooftop scene, the actress playing the prostitute seemed to have breast implants, something I'm sure that is quite wrong in the context of the time the film is taking place!
Anthony Perkins chews the scenery well, playing his part of Jack Hyde to the hilt. It would be hard to think of any other actor that could have carried this part so well. Those who adored him in Psycho, Pretty Poison, and Crimes Of Passion will find a lot to love about his role in Edge Of Sanity. For film collectors of the dark and sinister, this is a nice addition and I am happy that MGM has rescued this film from obscurity for a whole new audience to discover as well as make established fans like myself very, very happy.
Call it trash if you want to, but it's quality, wicked, ELEGANT trash!
Those who have been dogging Edge Of Sanity should have known what they were getting into before they watched this film -- the film summaries on the video packaging alone gave enough warning that this was going to be a twisted story full of perverse material. I for one am not afraid to say I really LIKE this film! I first saw it in an "unrated" edition on VHS back when it was first released on home video in the late 1980s, and I was enthralled. Now, MGM has released it on DVD in what I think is the closest to that unrated version there is, if in fact it is "re-edited" like the notice on IMDb. I wouldn't be surprised if this DVD edition was actually that original unrated version, as many titles have been showing up on MGM DVD in uncut editions with the original MPAA rating on the cover.
While experimenting with anesthetics, Dr. Henry Jekyll accidentally inhales fumes from an altered drug. This unleashes not only ability to act out his inhibitions, it unleashes repressed sexual feelings he had experienced as humiliation during his childhood. He then goes on a killing spree, murdering prostitutes in the area (possibly to get back at the woman who laughed and taunted him in his childhood?). He also obsesses over a prostitute named Susannah that looks just like that woman from his past, and rather than kill her he relishes in her similarly shared dark nature when he gets her to inhale the drug. Note that near the ending, Johnny is hanging upside down while Susannah laughs maniacally, mirroring the opening scene. This brings the film full circle. It's a fascinating idea that Henry Jekyll/Jack Hyde is also Jack The Ripper.
Yes, Edge Of Sanity is sinister, twisted, perverse, and trashy. It's also lavish, elegant, and beautifully done, and downright intriguing. The cinematography is excellent (the DVD is a vast improvement over the old VHS of Unrated and R versions), the costumes are a wow, and the music score is superb as well as appropriate to the scenes it enhances. A lot of imagination went into this production, and it's unfair to say it's an inappropriate film. I found it to be more disturbing and wickedly fun than the more recent FROM HELL (which was more a CGI visual feast) and more sexually appropriate than the grandiose arthouse T&A of EYES WIDE SHUT.
There's a fair amount of sex, nudity (more full frontal male nudity in a bathhouse scene than the topless prostitutes combined), and even a hint of male bisexuality during Hyde's tryst with Susannah and Johnny. It also says a lot about how things haven't changed so much in society's decadence in issues of drugs and sex. The only thing that I found distracting was that during the rooftop scene, the actress playing the prostitute seemed to have breast implants, something I'm sure that is quite wrong in the context of the time the film is taking place!
Anthony Perkins chews the scenery well, playing his part of Jack Hyde to the hilt. It would be hard to think of any other actor that could have carried this part so well. Those who adored him in Psycho, Pretty Poison, and Crimes Of Passion will find a lot to love about his role in Edge Of Sanity. For film collectors of the dark and sinister, this is a nice addition and I am happy that MGM has rescued this film from obscurity for a whole new audience to discover as well as make established fans like myself very, very happy.
Call it trash if you want to, but it's quality, wicked, ELEGANT trash!