In order to deal with his unspecified heart trouble, Dr. Jekyll (Tony Todd – Come on, you know who Tony Todd is) has developed a serum that is keeping him alive. The side effect is that he turns into Mr. Hyde and kills people. A detective (Tracy Scoggins – “Babylon 5,” “Lois & Clark”) is hot on his trail, despite having recently suffered a fatal tragedy involving her partner that causes her to resist carrying her gun.

Director John Carl Buechler (“Troll,” and “Troll 2009” is in pre-production!) has taken an interesting approach in that he has the two personalities interact as if they are different people. Jekyll’s struggle to contain Hyde is made an external one, and we watch as he battles for control over his own body and mind. Tony Todd does his best with the levelheaded Jekyll character, but I think he’s much more comfortable in the bad wig and half-bad makeup portraying the unstable Mr. Hyde. (Buechler has extensive special effects credits, so I don’t understand what amounts here to a sloppy re-use of the Troll mask.) It seems like Mr. Todd really comes alive during the Hyde scenes and has a great time with the role.

Unfortunately, when Hyde’s not around things get boring. And where the storyline is not strong enough to hold my attention, these are the things that distract me:

1. Continuity errors – removing the same syringe cap twice, once with hands and once with mouth; police badge moving from belt to chain around neck and back to belt again; shoulder wraps appearing out of nowhere;

2. Freaky looking actors – Tony Todd’s love interest has starved herself into an E.T. head; Tracy Scoggins apparently went to her plastic surgeon and asked for “the Fembot Special;” girlfriend at the beginning has the weirdest looking friends ever, thereby making her look awesome, so she gets props for that;

3. Miscellany – unflattering camera angles; too-bright lighting; rumpled clothing; Detective Fembot’s dire need for a V05 Hot Oil treatment; what appears to be a classroom used as an apartment set; odd word choices such as “face the blackboard” referring to what is clearly a marker board; other general stuff that just makes the whole thing feel low-rent.

Let me be clear about one thing: None of this is Tony Todd’s fault. He is the sole reason that I asked the Vulture to send this one over. I love you, Mr. Todd!! I hope you make a hundred of these things. Just maybe next time you should be in charge of the editing. And the lighting. And also the climax so it will make some kind of sense, because this one made no sense at all. I love you!

Extras on the DVD include a making-of featurette where everyone says wonderful things about John Carl Buechler, the trailer, and three TV spots that are virtually the same. Did this thing really air in theaters? HA!

In conclusion, folks that aren’t die-hard Tony Todd fans needn’t bother. And Buechler, I’ll see you at Troll 2009.

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