Paolo Villaggio, born in 1932 in Genoa, Italy, is celebrated for his distinctive comedic characters that blend absurdity with pathos. In Strange Occasion (1976), he delivers a performance that highlights his knack for portraying the grotesque and paradoxical, while in Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979), he brings his unique comedic flair to a genre mashup. Villaggio's work in these films contributes to the rich tapestry of Italian cult cinema, reflecting the absurdity and humor that define the era.
Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot
A lusty young woman decides to use her sexual powers to “tame” the evil and murderous Dr. Jekyll. Actress Edwige Fenech and the Italians made A LOT of screwball sex comedies in the 70’s. Generally though, they were more successful(internationally, at least) at bedroom farce-type stuff as opposed to parodies like this. To be fair though, the English-language version of this is saddled with bad dubbing, horrid music (which may or may not have been in the Italian-language version), and an inappropriate English-title, “Dr.Jeckyl Likes ’em Hot”, which suggests a much more sex-saturated movie. Still, as European horror movie parodies go this is not as good as Lucio Fulci’s “Young Dracula”, it’s about the same as Armando Crispino’s “Frankenstein All”Italia”, but it’s significantly better than “Dracula Blows his Cool”.
