Hammer Horror is back! With a near zero-budget modern take on Jekyll and Hyde, starring Eddie Izzard as the eponymous Doctor Jekyll. Hammer is most famous for dominating the horror market in the 1950s, but this new Z-movie is likely only to attract a pretty niche audience.

Whatever limited budget granted this movie has clearly been blown on two things: Eddie Izzard herself, and Blair Mowat’s hilariously overblown score for full orchestra and choir (recorded in Glasgow and Budapest). And worth every penny, as both are the clear highlights of the entire strange endeavour.

Izzard exudes charisma as the sinister and charming Jekyll, a billionaire recluse, as well as her murderous and scheming alter-ego Hyde. Rob (Scott Chambers), fresh out of prison and looking for a job, weirdly ends up landing a job Jekyll’s live-in carer, despite having no experience or qualifications. As time goes on, Rob starts to see more and more of Hyde (or is it Jekyll?) and begins to realise he is in mortal danger. It’s a meandering script (Dan Kelly-Mulhern), but Izzard’s permanent twinkle in the eye is irresistible.

Starting and ending with absurdly over-the-top, Danny Elfman-style music, we can see that director Joe Stephenson is aware of the story’s inherent camp and silliness. But actually, we need more camp and silliness throughout the rest of the story: the bloody, technicolour finale feels somehow at odds with what is otherwise a fairly mundane contemporary treatment.

Available exclusively in the UK on digital download from 11 March 2024.