Jekyll and Hyde . . . Together Again (1982) – Nostalgia Central

Dr Jekyll, a mild-mannered but eccentric surgeon and researcher at a private hospital in Los Angeles, accidentally snorts some of the white powder potion he has concocted in his laboratory (this is California in 1982, after all).

Instead of turning him into a ravaging night-stalker, Jekyll becomes a wild-haired, jewellery-laden discoing Mr Hyde.

Mark Blankfield, a young comedian who gained fame on ABC’s Saturday Night Live clone, Fridays, is cast as Dr Jekyll, the star surgeon at LA’s Our Lady of Pain and Suffering Hospital, who is adored by all the buxom nurses there.

Jekyll pulls up his baggy pants and announces in mid-surgery that he will operate no more, but will devote his life to finding a formula to free the human spirit. He says he hopes surgery will become a thing of the past.

“But doctor, what will you replace surgery with/” he is asked by one of the young residents watching his final operation.

“Drugs,” Jekyll replies. The students cheer. The audience is apparently supposed to cheer as well, but if Cheech and Chong can’t make this stuff funny, this mob has no chance.

Jekyll’s avaricious boss, Dr Carew (Michael McGuire), gets mad at his decision to quit surgery because he wants Jekyll to perform a total body transplant on Hubert Howes (Peter Brocco) – an ancient, dying millionaire whose bucks could benefit the hospital.

Meanwhile, Jekyll is in the lab pushing around white powdered substances to create the magic potion, which accidentally finds its way up his nose.

Instead of sprouting body hair and claws, Mr Hyde emerges as a growling, sex-obsessed disco king in tight pants, gold jewellery and platform heels.

Krista Errickson plays Ivy, the punk rock singer Jekyll encounters in the hospital, and Hyde pursues in a punk club called Madame Woo Woo’s.

Other characters include the ageless Dr Knute Lanyon (Tim Thomerson), a plastic surgeon who secretly enjoys women’s undergarments, and Mary Carew (Bess Armstrong), Jekyll’s fiancée who secretly wishes for a Mr Hyde.

Despite a promising start, the film lurches desperately from gag to gag, depending largely on the lowest forms of bedpan humour.

Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde
Mark Blankfield
Mary Carew
Bess Armstrong
Ivy
Krista Errickson
Dr Knute Lanyon
Tim Thomerson
Dr Carew
Michael McGuire
Queen
Neil Hunt
Busty Nurse
Cassandra Peterson
Barbara Blau
Jessica Nelson
Hubert Howes
Peter Brocco
Mrs Larson
Liz Sheridan
Hunchback Nurse
Ann Nelson
Nurse Gonzales
Belita Moreno
Wong
Leland Sun
Madame Woo Woo
Virginia Wing
Dutch
Jesse Goins
Baron Von Horsch
Jack Collins
Announcer
Michael Ensign
Brigham
David Rupprecht
Box Boy
Clarke Coleman
Mrs Simpson
Bernadette Birkett
Helen Schneider
Madelyn Cates
Dr Joseph Schneider
José Borcia
Veda Jackson
George Chakiris
Hydettes
Paulette K. Brown
Petsye Powell
Maher Boutros

Director
Jerry Belson