The Switch or How to Alter Your Ego

The Switch or How to Alter Your Ego (1974)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Dr. Shirley Jekyll (Mary Mendum) is a rather big nerd who does nothing but work on her experiments. She has no social life and certainly no love life. All of that changes when she creates a potion and tries it on herself. Before long she is transformed into the sexy Sherry Hyde and goes out for some hot passion.

This sexploitation comedy was directed by the one and only Joseph W. Sarno and I must admit that I really wasn't sure what to expect from it. After all, Sarno had directed the comedy DEEP THROAT PART II and it was a downright awful movie so I was thinking that perhaps comedy just wasn't his thing. Well, this here turned out to be an entertaining, if not all together funny, movie that perfectly spoofs the Jekyll and Hyde theme while pleasing the male viewers looking for nudity.

A lot of the credit for the film's charm must go to Mendum who is simply very fun in the role of Jekyll and especially Hyde. I thought her comic timing was pretty good playing the rather silly and straight Jekyll character. She was also very seductive when it came time to play the wilder side. The actress was obviously very beautiful so that's a major plus in a film like this. The supporting players fits their roles nicely, although no one really stands out.

One shouldn't really go into this film expecting some sort of horror-comedy. The main goal of this picture was to play on 42nd Street and bring in male viewers who were wanting to see nudity. There are a bunch of comic sex scenes throughout including a massive orgy at the end. As I said, I really didn't think the comedy worked as well as it could have but the film remains entertaining throughout.