This week on The 80s Movie Podcast, host Edward Havens launches a new semi-regular series, Produced and Abandoned, spotlighting films that were completed but largely discarded by their distributors. First up: the bizarre and nearly forgotten 1980 horror-comedy Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype, a very loose retelling of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” starring Oliver Reed in a dual role, and written and directed by Charles B. Griffith, the legendary screenwriter behind The Little Shop of Horrors. Produced by Cannon Films, the movie was rushed from concept to completion in just a few months, only to practically vanish from theaters.
Edward explores the film’s wild production history, from Griffith’s original comedy concept and failed attempt to cast Dick Van Dyke to Oliver Reed’s last-minute involvement and the movie’s mysterious disappearance after only a handful of theatrical screenings. Plus: the connections to cult favorites like Condorman and The Apple, the strange international afterlife of the film on VHS, and why forgotten studio castoffs like Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype still deserve rediscovery decades later.
