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Released by: One Seven Movies
Released on: October 13th, 2015
Director: Domiziano Christopharo
Writer: Andrea Cavaletto, Domiziano Christopharo
Cast: Roberta Gemma, Claudio Zanelli, Francesco Malcolm
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The Movie
The name "Joe D'Amato" instills immediate thoughts within the minds of most cult movie fans, as this Italian cinematographer, director and screenwriter was infamous for creating some of the sleaziest and most over the top exploitation films before finishing out his career as a prolific porn maestro du jour.
Furthermore, when this feature from director and writer Domiziano Christopharo dedicates itself to the memory of D'Amato's work, it's also pretty clear right from the get-go that this isn't going to be your average neo-Italian attempt at replicating their horror and giallo past. No, Hyde's Secret Nightmare brings the sleaze right from the opening shot, pulling no punches as it centers upon its stark image of full-frontal male nudity, although Domiziano's film on the whole is probably more on the artsy side than anything D'Amato attempted during his career.
Christopharo's screenplay actually riffs heavily upon the David Freidman exploitation joint The Adult Story of Jekyll and Hyde, as it focuses upon a mad doctor trying to cure his impotence via a series of unsafe and illegal experiments on dead bodies, procured through the services of a necrophiliac gravedigger. These experiments eventually lead to our Jekyll character being transferred into the voluptuous and sexy alter-ego of Eva Hyde, whose now voracious sexual appetite need not rely upon Jekyll's manhood for satiation.
If this all sounds a bit silly (and it is), Hyde's Secret Nightmare plays all of this craziness completely straight, right down to some explicit XXX footage (with humans and an embarrassing plastic doll) and practical makeup effects which give the film a bizarre, nether-worldly quality, particularly when some supernatural plot twists get thrown into the mix. There's even some extreme piercing/bondage action which appears out of nowhere during a nightclub scene; it's all a bit bizarre. It should be said, however, that the film suffers from a cheap, chintzy soundtrack and an equally shoddy level of photography and sound design. Hyde's appearance actually isn't too far removed from D'Amato's own Frankenstein 2000, although Christopharo's film doesn't benefit from Joe's ever-sharp eye for shot set-up.
Hyde's Secret Nightmare never really becomes boring-this story is just so extreme half the time-but the film does derail itself from the plot proper with just too many deviating set-pieces which don't even feature main characters. It all becomes more of a "what's going to shock us next?" vibe, as opposed to the audience actually following the narrative. Given that Christopharo have been making features and shorts all the way back to 2009's House of Flesh Mannequins, however, one might think that by now we would've seen something which really makes an impactful statement. Hyde's Secret Nightmare isn't quite that that feature, but it's close. Maybe if there was some decent money in making an Italian genre film revival, we could get something special, but for now this one is at least better than average.
Video/Audio/Extras
One Seven Movies presents Hyde's Secret Nightmare in its original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, and-although the film itself suffers from a cinematography which is less than stellar-the disc itself looks sharp enough, without any DNR or compression issues to report. The English subtitles are also sufficiently done, better than One Seven's reputation for embarrassing errors, anyway, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Italian language sound mix offers balance between dialogue solid effects.
Extras are actually above average here, as well, as this disc presents interviews with both Christopharo and Italian adult star Gemma, speaking about their performances in the film with candor, including the film's mixture of erotica and horror. A blooper reel lightens up the mood a bit from all the bizarre darkness, while the film's original trailer, a collection of deleted scenes and a CD-ROM comic adaptation round out what's a decent sized supplemental section for a rather obscure little film.
The Final Word
Hyde's Secret Nightmare isn't going to bring back the golden age of Italian exploitation, no matter how hard it tries. However, the film is very much indicative of just how bonkers Italian filmmaking still can be in the modern age, because yeah... flicks this weird don't exactly drop on our doorstep every day.
