Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde

In Victorian London, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) is a research scientist who dedicates his life to the curing of many common diseases. However, his lecherous friend Professor Robertson (Gerard Sim) remarks that Jekyll's experiments take so long to actually be achieved, he will no doubt be dead by the time he is able to achieve anything. Haunted by this remark, Jekyll abandons his studies and begins searching for an elixir of life, using female hormones taken from fresh cadavers supplied by murderers Burke and Hare, reasoning that these hormones will help him extend his life since women traditionally live longer than men and have stronger systems. In the apartment above Jekyll's lives a family: an elderly mother (Dorothy Alison), her daughter Susan Spencer (Susan Brodrick), and Susan's brother Howard (Lewis Fiander). Susan is attracted to Jekyll, and he returns her advances, but is very obsessed with his work to make advances. Once mixing the female hormones into a serum and drinking it, it not only has the effect of changing Jekyll's character (for the worse) but also of changing his sex, transforming him into a beautiful but evil woman. Susan becomes jealous when she discovers this mysterious woman, but when she confronts Jekyll over this, to explain the sudden appearance of his female ego, he calls her Mrs. Edwina Hyde (Martine Beswick), saying she is his widowed sister who has come to live with him. On the other hand, Howard develops a feeling of strong desire for Mrs. Hyde. Jekyll soon finds that his serum requires a regular supply of female hormones to maintain its effect, necessitating the killing of young girls. Burke and Hare supply his needs, but their criminal activities are uncovered; Burke is lynched by a mob and Hare is blinded by lime. The doctor decides to take the matters into his own hands and commits the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. Jekyll regards this with horror, but Mrs. Hyde relishes the murders as she begins to take control, even seducing and then killing Professor Robertson when he attempts to question her about the murders. As Mrs. Hyde grows more powerful, the two personalities begin to struggle for dominance. Jekyll asks Susan to the opera; however, when he is getting dressed to leave, he unconsciously takes Mrs. Hyde's gown from the wardrobe instead of his own clothes, realizing that he no longer needs to drink the serum in order to transform. Susan is heartbroken when Jekyll fails to take her out to the opera, and she decides to go alone. However, Mrs. Hyde decides that innocent, pure Susan's blood is just what she needs to finally take over Jekyll's body. She stalks Susan through the dark streets, but Jekyll's will only just manages to prevent Mrs. Hyde's attempt to kill Susan. He then commits one last murder to find a way to stabilize his condition, but he is interrupted by the police after a comment by Hare to realize the similarities between Jekyll's earlier experiments on cadavers and the Ripper murders. As Jekyll attempts to escape by climbing along the outside of a building, he transforms into Mrs. Hyde and falls to the ground -- dying as a twisted amalgamation of both male and female.