Edge of Sanity

Edge of Sanity is a 1989 American slasher film directed by Gérard Kikoïne and starring Anthony Perkins. It mixes elements of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with those of tales of Jack the Ripper. 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 and cocaine 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 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 Anthony Perkins as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Jack "The Ripper" Hyde Glynis Barber as Elisabeth Jekyll Sarah Maur Thorp as Susannah David Lodge as Underwood Ben Cole as Johnny Jill Melford as Flora Noel Coleman as Egglestone Briony McRoberts as Ann Underwood Harry Landis as Coroner Basil Hoskins as Mr. Bottingham