Here’s a little piece of nostalgia that’s got a small but rabid cult following, due mostly to repeated airings on “Night Flight,” an ‘80s variety show responsible for unleashing all manner of depravity on late night TV viewers back in the day. “Jekyll and Hyde…Together Again” is not your typical retelling of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic. No, instead it’s basically one big cocaine joke. Dr. Jekyll (Mark Blankfield) is so devoted to the world of science and surgery that he barely even notices his society girlfriend Mary (Bess Armstrong). One wonders if they’ve ever even had sex. Late one night in his lab, as he tries in vain to perfect a miracle drug that will benefit mankind, two of his powders inadvertently mix together. In a sequence that must be seen to be believed, he falls asleep and accidentally snorts the new chemical (through a straw, no less), Mr. Hyde is unleashed, and Blankfield gives his real performance in the film. He sprouts hair in new places, a leisure suit, gaudy jewelry and even grows a coke nail. Instant swinger! Hyde goes out on the town to find Ivy (Krista Errickson), a hooker and former patient who briefly transfixed Jekyll earlier in the film. They have an insane night before he reverts back to the good doctor, and of course the cycle repeats itself several times before it’s all over. The third act, set in England and featuring an extensive sequence shot in black and white, is far more inventive than it probably needed to be. But the same can be said for much of the film: It’s a one-joke movie with dozens of priceless gags. Before the final credits roll, the camera pans down into Stevenson’s grave to catch his corpse spinning round and round.
“Jekyll and Hyde…Together Again” is by no means great cinema, but it is a hell of a tasteless good time, and I laughed out loud more times than I can count on two hands. It’s a relic of another era, and much of its success is due to Blankfield’s dual (dueling?) performances. Here’s a guy who’s all but fallen off the map, although his last IMDB credit is as Dr. Miller in the first season “Arrested Development” episode, “My Mother the Car.” A subtle nod to his doctor in this underground classic? If so, props to Mitch Hurwitz and Co. There’s a place for Blankfield in the movies of today, it just hasn’t yet been carved. The movie is an easy recommendation to anyone looking for laughs off the beaten path. If it still seems like a backhanded compliment, then there’s the added bonus of Tim Thomerson playing a closeted homosexual…in a totally non-P.C. manner, of course. Those wacky ‘80s!
