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Mary ReillyThe title character is virtually non-existent in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic horror, 'The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde', but retelling the classic tale from the perspective of the housemaid gives an excellent new twist to a well-worn tale.
Mary Reilly (Roberts) is the servant of Dr Jekyll (Malkovich), a kindly but obsessive professor. The pair begin to fall in love, but being a typically repressed gent the doctor is unable to act upon his feelings. Jekyll's new 'assistant', the rugged and dangerous Mr Hyde, has no such problems, and against her instincts, Reilly finds herself drawn to this dark and sexually menacing man.
Despite some grotesque moments - including a spectacular transformation from Jekyll to Hyde - Mary Reilly is essentially a good-versus-evil psychodrama.
Visually stunning and beautifully paced, Stephen Frears' film imagines a dreamlike, claustrophobic Victorian England with streets cloaked in fog and shadow. There is, too, an excellent sense of lurking fear, realised in some terrific dream sequences (Reilly's nightmare involving an eel is particularly memorable) and some good performances, particularly by Close as the flamboyant whorehouse madam, and Gambon as Reilly's abusive father.
Roberts is to be applauded for attempting a more challenging role but, although she is occasionally captivating as the naive young maid, her Irish accent is so inconsistent it is impossible to overlook.
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