Line #35 Film/IMonster


1	[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i_monster.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:282:"Now, this might sting a bit..."]]
3	A 1971 Creator/AmicusProductions horror film. Dr. Charles Marlowe (Creator/ChristopherLee) is a renowned psychologist in 1906 in England. Spurred by debates between his colleague Dr. Hastie Lanyon (Richard Hurndall) and lawyer Frederick Utterson (Creator/PeterCushing) about whether human beings are born good or evil or made that way through their life's experiences, Marlowe takes it upon himself to [[ForScience experiment]] with the idea.
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5	He invents a [[FantasticDrug serum]] which [[ProfessorGuineaPig he injects himself with]] in the hopes of separating his evil half from his good... but instead it simply changes his personality into that of a completely different individual, the unpredictably volatile and sadistic Edward Blake (Lee again, with minimal makeup). "Blake" begins committing horrible crimes throughout London, and it's up to Utterson to stop him.
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7	If that plot sounds familiar, it's because ''I, Monster'' is an adaptation ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', and [[TruerToTheText rather faithfully]], too... apart from the rampant [[AdaptationNameChange Adaptation Name Changes]] going on. Not to mention a completely new title. Both the new title and the name changes were so people going in would not know the, now well-known, plot twist of the original story.
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10	!!Tropes used in this novel:
11	* AdaptationNameChange: Dr. Henry Jekyll is Dr. Charles Marlowe, Edward Hyde is Edward Blake and Gabriel John Utterson is Frederick Utterson. Only Dr. Lanyon and Poole the butler keep their full names from the novel. Jekyll and Hyde regained their original names in the Italian dub, thus defeating the purpose of the name change in the first place.
12	* CaneFu: Blake's preferred method of hurting or killing people is to bash them repeatedly with a cane he stole from a shop.
13	* CollectorOfTheStrange: Dr. Marlowe has a two-headed baby preserved in a block of lucite in his lab.
14	* DeathByAdaptation: Blake kills Poole fearing he would divulge his secret.
15	* DemotedToExtra: Not as much as in other films, especially the [[Film/DrJekyllAndMrHyde1931 1931 film]] (where poor Utterson had just one scene!), but with JekyllAndHyde adaptations' tendency to focus on the doctor and his alter-ego, Utterson is relegated to a supporting role. An important supporting role, but a supporting role nonetheless.
16	* DestinationDefenestration: [[spoiler:At the end, Blake tries to push Utterson out a window to his death, but fails.]]
17	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Considering how [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin tweaked]] Blake seems to be after injecting himself with the FantasticDrug, much of the story plays like a metaphor for extreme drug addiction driving the addict to become a different person and commit harmful acts.
18	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: One of the first things Blake does upon coming into existence is to grab a chemistry retort, hold it by the neck like a club, and mime hitting someone with it while [[SlasherSmile grinning insanely]].
19	* EvilIsPetty: Blake goes out of his way to follow and murder a woman who spurned his affections in a pub.
20	* EvilMakesYouUgly: Blake starts out looking exactly like Marlowe, just with a different name and personality. However, as the film progresses, and the more evil acts he commits, the more physically repugnant Blake becomes.
21	* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: Marlowe's laboratory is a treasure trove of Victorian-era lab glassware.
22	* HairTriggerTemper: It sure is easy to set Mr. Blake off.
23	* HeroAntagonist: Utterson is out to stop the murderous Mr. Blake at any cost.
24	* IAmAMonster: Not necessarily in the story itself, but definitely invoked in the title.
25	* ImprovisedWeapon: A retort gripped like a club, but never really used as such. Blake was just wondering what it'd be like to smash it over someone's head.
26	* JekyllAndHyde: The names have been changed, but it's very much a story of this type.
27	* KindheartedCatLover: Utterson has a pet cat.
28	* ManOnFire: [[spoiler:During his fight with Utterson, Blake's cape goes into the fireplace and sets him ablaze.]]
29	* OldRetainer: Poole, as usual.
30	* ParentalAbuse: Marlowe's father used to beat him using a cane.
31	* PlayingWithSyringes: Unlike most JekyllAndHyde adaptations which follow the book's example of having the doctor drink his concoction, Marlowe injects it into himself. A shot of a crazed Blake holding a hypodermic needle was used prominently in advertising, including on the DVD cover seen above.
32	* ProfessorGuineaPig: Marlowe chooses to test his serum on himself rather than his patients. He ''does'' initially use it on some [[TestedOnHumans test subjects]] besides himself, but quickly realizes it's irresponsible and unethical.
33	* RageAgainstTheReflection: Blake smashes the mirror in Marlowe's lab in a fit of rage at one point.
34	* SlasherSmile: [[http://www.dvdbeaver.com/11/I_monster_blu-ray_/450___pat_16_i_monster_blu-ray____blu-ray_.jpg Blake.]] [[http://www.dvdbeaver.com/11/I_monster_blu-ray_/450___pat_17_i_monster_blu-ray____blu-ray_.jpg All]] [[http://www.dvdbeaver.com/11/I_monster_blu-ray_/450___pat_19_i_monster_blu-ray____blu-ray_.jpg the]] [[http://www.dvdbeaver.com/11/I_monster_blu-ray_/450___pat_22_i_monster_blu-ray____blu-ray_.jpg time.]] To the point where it's a wonder anyone trusts him at all, considering he just ''looks'' like someone who wants to eat your skin.
35	* StaircaseTumble: [[spoiler:After [[ManOnFire catching on fire]], Blake falls down the stairs in Utterson's house.]]
36	* ThatPoorCat: A depressing variant. Marlowe tests his formula on his cat, which promptly goes berserk and attacks him. He ends up beating it to death with a fireplace poker (mercifully off-screen), and one piteous little meow before Marlowe delivers the finishing blow suggests the poor creature ended up [[DyingAsYourself Dying As Itself.]]
37	* ThisWasHisTrueForm: [[spoiler:Blake, now hideous beyond belief because EvilMakesYouUgly, takes a [[StaircaseTumble fatal tumble]] down a flight of stairs while fighting with Utterson. In death, his face returns to that of Charles Marlowe.]]
38	* TruerToTheText: The name changes aside, it's a lot closer to the source material than most other movies.

Context Film / IMonster