''Edge of Sanity'' is a 1989 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

directed by Gérard Kikoïne and starring

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...

. It mixes elements of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

's 1886 novella ''

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' with those of tales of

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

Plot

In the opening scene, Henry Jekyll, a young boy, witnesses his father committing adultery with another woman in a barn. His father catches him and violently whips Henry for spying, scarring him for life and leading to repressed sadomasochistic longings. Many years later, in late 1880s England, the adult Dr. Henry Jekyll is experimenting with the human psyche when he accidentally ingests a mix of

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

and goes insane. He transforms into the monstrous-looking Edward "Jack the Ripper" Hyde and murders a prostitute who resembles one that he previously met as a child. He begins a killing spree using the mixture that was originally meant to be an

anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

in order to influence prostitutes and johns to torture and kill each other. The murders gain the attention of a detective from Scotland Yard as well as Jekyll's wife Elisabeth, who begins to suspect where her husband is going at nights. As "Jack" Hyde, he enlists two assistants to give out his anesthetic drug to distribute among the lower-class population of Whitechapel. One night, after he transforms, Jekyll is followed by Elisabeth to a brothel and then from there to a sadomasochistic threesome at a local abandoned warehouse where both of Hyde's partners go crazy and attempt to kill each other and her. Elisabeth subdues and kills both and gets away, but Hyde follows her back to her house. He breaks in and murders her before transforming back into Dr. Jekyll, thus getting away with everything and enabling him to continue his killing spree.

Cast

Dr. Henry Jekyll Dr. Henry Jekyll, nicknamed in some copies of the story as Harry Jekyll, and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. In the story, ...

/ Jack "The Ripper" Hyde *

Glynis Barber Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama ''Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grace ...

as Elisabeth Jekyll *Sarah Maur Thorp as Susannah * David Lodge as Underwood *Ben Cole as Johnny *

Jill Melford Jill Melford (23 November 1931 – 21 February 2018) was an English actress. Early career Born in 1931, she was the daughter of the actor Jack Melford. She attended the Ballet Arts School in New York and made her theatre debut in 1949 as a ...

as Flora *

Noel Coleman Noel Coleman (26 November 1919 – 12 October 2007) was a RADA-trained English actor who appeared in many television roles. He appeared in the 1969 '' Doctor Who'' serial ''The War Games'' as General Smythe and he appeared in '' Red Dwarf'' as ...

as Egglestone * Briony McRoberts as Ann Underwood *

Harry Landis Harry Landis (born Hyman Jacob Londinsky, 25 November 1926 – 11 September 2022) was a British actor and director. He had a long career in theatre, film and television, spanning over 60 years. Landis was best known for playing barber Felix K ...

as Coroner *

Basil Hoskins Basil William Hoskins (10 June 1929 – 17 January 2005) was an English theatre and film actor. Hoskins, a native of Edmonton, London, was educated at the Edmonton County School. Hoskins studied acting at RADA and joined the Nottingham Playhous ...

as Mr. Bottingham

Production

A few exterior sets were filmed in London.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

stated that he thinks the film looks "19th-century atmospheric". While the film is for the most part clearly set in the Victorian era, some of the wardrobe seems deliberately anachronistic and modern, adding to the film's surrealistic ambience.

Alain Silver Alain Silver is a US film producer, director, and screenwriter; music producer; film critic, film historian, DVD commentator, author and editor of books and essays on film topics, especially film noir, the samurai film, and horror films. Filmmak ...

compared the style of the film to those directed by

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

, based on the way that the films incorporate the supernatural, psychology, and sexual imagery. He also said that the prostitutes "further unsettle the preconceptions of the audience". The book '' Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema'' uses the film as an example of sexual brutality against women in films.

Reception

wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that Anthony Perkins "gives a good, funny, if somewhat lopsided performance as the madman of medicine". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' reviewed the film, giving it 1 out of 4 stars and saying, "EDGE OF SANITY obviously isn't meant to be taken seriously, despite its expensive production values and surrealistic photography—both surprisingly good. But the rest of EDGE OF SANITY (shot mostly in Budapest with some English exteriors) doesn't measure up to its technical proficiency."

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

described the film as "Tasteless, pointless, and unpleasant".

References

External links

* * {{Harry Alan Towers 1989 films 1989 horror films American slasher films British slasher films Films about Jack the Ripper Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde films Films shot in London 1980s slasher films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s British films