I recently happened to watch this movie. I must say I wasn't expecting much because the make up effects were not up to the mark and though Sanjeev Kumar as Dr. Wilson looks like a thorough gentleman, he fails to induce terror as Mr. Blackstone. The musical score is nice and N. Dutta has composed some memorable tunes that one would love to hum for a few days to months. I specially liked the song 'Aaj Socha Hai', sung beautifully by Sulakshana Pandit and flawlessly written by 'Sahir'. The film lacks creepiness that the actual novel 'The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson teemed with.
The story begins with Dr. Wilson, who claims to be experimenting to sieve out a drug that would go deep within humans and eradicate their worst attributes forever. Unfortunately, Dr. Wilson is such a workaholic that he often fails to project his inherent love towards his friend David (Vinod Mehra) and fiancée Diana (Sulakshana Pandit). Diana loves Wilson unconditionally and accepts him the way he is.
Time goes by and Dr. Wilson succeeds in making a potion that would bring the worst attributes out of a person. He decides to experiment the drug on himself, but the potion has its own disadvantages. Soon Dr. Wilson's personality begins to show more traits of nefariousness than something humanitarian. He names his villainous alter-ego Mr. Blackstone. Dr. Wilson soon finds his good personality being entirely conquered by Mr. Blackstone. As Mr. Blackstone, Dr. Wilson goes on a killing spree and murders innocent townsfolk.
The film is slow with many unwanted characters like Daisy (Rekha), Peter (Amol Palekar), Barrister Sinha (Shatrughan Sinha) and others. Nothing really happens in the first half of the movie. The movie, however runs with a fine pace, once it's up and running. Sulakshana Pandit and Vinod Mehra have nothing much to do than serving as the best pals of Dr. Wilson. I suppose the movie could have been better with a faster pace and adding more baleful impulse in Mr. Blackstone's personality would have justified the real charisma of Sanjeev Kumar that we always wish to see on screen.
I didn't find the movie very interesting. If you watch it once, you won't feel like watching it again. It is not a kind of movie a horror desperado would look for at midnight or on a fainéant afternoon.
