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Edge of Sanity

Play trailer Poster for Edge of Sanity R 1989 1h 30m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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33% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Cocaine turns Dr. Jekyll (Anthony Perkins) into nocturnal Mr. Hyde, Victorian London's Jack the Ripper.
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Edge of Sanity

Critics Reviews

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Budd Wilkins Slant Magazine 06/29/2022
The film is a stylish, albeit gonzo, little shocker that has as much to say about the 1980s as it does the 1880s. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 07/11/2022
1/4
One of the worst Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movies AND one of the worst Jack the Ripper films. Go to Full Review
Peter Canavese Celluloid Dreams 06/27/2022
2.5/4
A slasher exploitation picture--but it's too interesting to dismiss. For one, there's a kind of integrity to its taboo-busting pan sexuality. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 10/11/2005
2/5
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 08/21/2002
3/5
Gorgeous production design. Not so gorgeous any other way Go to Full Review
Scott Weinberg eFilmCritic.com 07/25/2002
1/5
Perkins sleepwalks through a grimy and unpleasant affair. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Steve D 02/26/2023 I don't know what it is trying to be or why Perkins wanted to be a part of it. All it ends up being is bad. See more 06/21/2022 When Henry Jekyl was young, he caught his father cheating on his mother in the barn. Caught, he was beaten by his dad as the half nude woman laughed at him, forever intertwining sex with violence and repressed sadomasochistic longings. Welcome to a totally different take on the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Many years later, Dr. Jekyll is experimenting with the human mind, but really he's just mixing ether with cocaine, which drives him insane and transforms him into Mr. Edward Hyde. Actually, it goes even further than that because it turns him into Jack the Ripper, a killer of women of the night who look just like the woman his father slept with all those decades ago. That mix of ether and cocaine also allows him to play master to prostitutes and their clients where they lose their inhibitions and end up murdering one another. Meanwhile, his wife Elisabeth (Glynis Barber) begins to suspect that perhaps her husband has something to do with all the Whitechapel murders. Director Gérard Kikoïne also made the 1989 version of Buried Alive (with Ginger Lynn, Robert Vaughn, Donald Pleasence and John Carradine), Lady Libertine, the Cannon film Master of Dragonard Hill and Love Circles. It's a strange movie, as the costumes and money seem to be modern, yet it's set in the Victorian era. Perkins doesn't make the full makeup transformation as most actors do, but goes wild in the way he carries himself, adding another different killer to his career of odd characters. It's definitely not for everyone — it mixes huge doses of sex with violence, which always seems to upset people — but for those ready for its surreal take on Jack the Ripper and a classic horror novel, there are plenty of rewards to be had. Leonard Maltin said that it was, "Tasteless, pointless, and unpleasant." That's a standing ovation where I come from. See more 08/29/2016 An very interesting take on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story with an very smart casting of Anthony Perkins the first half of the film does work well and does an good job at setting up some of the main characters unfortunately as the film goes it drops its character and story blinding to become a typical slasher and then it just kept slipping for me and film just became a typical you got a guy trying to hide he is murder from his wife and a cop is trying to figure out who the killer is See more 07/03/2016 Decent take on the Jekyll and Hyde story, I like the ending and the vague attempt at trying to connect it with Jack the Ripper. Perkins plays it a little too over the top though. And what, was this some kind of social commentary on the crack epidemic of the time...? See more 12/15/2013 Anthony Perkins invents crack cocaine and goes psycho once again--Perkins at his lunatic best!! See more andrew k 04/27/2013 A failed attempt to merge the stories of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Jack the Ripper. An ambitious goal and an actor who probably could have pulled it off, but several parts simply came off as cartoonish. Almost as if they were trying to mix in some Clockwork Orange. Not Perkins' finest. See more Read all reviews
Edge of Sanity

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Movie Info

Synopsis Cocaine turns Dr. Jekyll (Anthony Perkins) into nocturnal Mr. Hyde, Victorian London's Jack the Ripper.
Director
Gérard Kikoïne
Producer
Edward Simons, Harry Alan Towers
Screenwriter
J.P. Félix, Ron Raley
Production Co
Hungarofilm, Allied Cine Group Pic II, Allied Vision
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 3, 2018
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Dolby
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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