Twins of Evil

The delicious Collinson twins, Mary and Madeleine, are reason enough to catch this technically accomplished and subtly erotic horror flick from Hammer; these ladies are sex incarnate and burn up the screen every time they appear.

Twins aside, director John Hough's contribution to English vampire lore is a very tight, exceptionally well directed and staged tale of bloodsucking and rampant desire.

Peter Cushing, as Gustav Weil, is the God-fearing leader of The Brotherhood, a bunch of old witch-finders who stalk pretty girls with bad reputations and confine them to burning crosses. Life gets complicated for old Gustav when his sexy niece (Madeleine Collinson) gets curious about Karnstein castle and its Satan-worshipping occupant (Damien Thomas) and decides to open her legs and heart to the arrogant neck-biter.

TWINS OF EVIL gets everything right. The photography, by Dick Bush, is stunning; the miniature work is never less than believable; the violence is more bloody than usual. The on-screen nudity is more explicit than is typical for a Hammer production and the storyline adequately provides for a generous amount of chills and thrills.

An evocative exploration of the fascinating nature of evil and reasons aplenty to submit to the humid charms of ladies with voracious appetites.

Highly recommended.

In the 19th century, beautiful identical orphaned twins come to live in a small Austrian village of Karnstein with their aunty and a Puritan witch hunter uncle. One of them is innocently sweet, but the other is rebellious, and decides to pay a visit to a Count that worships the devil and who her uncle doesn't like at all. During the visit she falls mercy of the count and becomes of one of the dead just like him. So, when her uncle finds out it doesn't take long for those Puritans wanting her to be burned at the stake.

I'm not a real massive fan of Hammer studio, but for me it feels like when you've seen one you've basically seen them all. That might be a pretty frank claim to make, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy this piece and some of their other works, because some have actually surprised me, just like 'The Mummy', 'The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires' and this particular one. These couple of films I got right into it, but some others rather bore me too death. It's just that England's legendary Hammer studio is for required tastes. Sometimes for me they work, but other times I couldn't care less. But that being said I found 'Twins of Evil' was basically the usual Hammer that had some flavour amongst the routine camp. These would be no other than Peter Cushing's priceless performance as the imposing Gustav Weil the malicious witch hunter, which it lifts the film out of the ordinary. He and is fanatic witch/vampire chasing Puritans were the life of the party. Wanting to burn basically every pretty girl they came across! But what did destroy the mood in those scenes was that I couldn't stop thinking of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', which has a scene about dim-witted people accusing a girl of witchcraft, which kept on popping up in my head.

While, the lustfulness was pretty high in this flick with its sexual tones and gratuitous nudity and flesh flowing. Which has kinda made its way into the latter day Hammer. Also that's the same for the violence, as there's some grisly bloodletting that's a huge delight, with impalement and decapitation. But in doing so it leaves the atmosphere for patent terror. What made film easy on the eyes were the two lead girls, the Collinson twins Mary and Madeleine were magazine pinups. They were damn right sexy, but also elegant in their revealing gowns and were plain beautiful. Damien Thomas gave an accomplished performance as the evilly suave Count Karnstein. Everyone gave a better than average performance. But there's no real mystery why these twin girls were cast in these roles, although Cushing is rightly the star here.

The film looks great and just like always Hammer captures the period strongly, from the set details of Karnstein's castle to the clothing and props. Sometimes scenes did come off as under lit, but that's due to the woodland setting that branched out throbbing sense uneasiness. Rattling behind the picture is the trademark boisterous score. While, the direction didn't come off as complete. Not enough action was sustained and there was too much chat, I thought. It's just some sequences were done to death in the film, that you already kinda get the point. But in those moments of action, it does become incredibly tense, with some clever twists and heart pounding pacing. That goes for the highly suspenseful finale. The plot device is nothing more than good vs. evil, from the twin girls too the battle of faith and religion. From what I grasp it's boring to be good, and people love bad girls. Is that far from the truth? Perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Oh well.

Highly entertaining Hammer fluff.

TWINS OF EVIL

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

This exquisite, sexually charged shocker (the third and final entry in Hammer's unofficial Karnstein trilogy, following THE VAMPIRE LOVERS and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, both produced in 1970) was directed by John Hough, a talented journeyman who began his career in British television (including notable episodes of "The Avengers") and later helmed the much-acclaimed ghost story THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973) before relocating to America and getting lost on the Hollywood treadmill. Here, working with a clever script (by Tudor Gates) and elegant period art direction (by Roy Stannard), he maintains a graceful period style which belies the film's threadbare budget and modest ambitions: A decadent lord of the manor (Damien Thomas) summons the ghost of Mircalla Karnstein (Katya Wyeth) from her grave and is subsequently transformed into a vampire, whereupon he targets the beautiful twin nieces of a local witchfinder (Peter Cushing).

The plot is pure melodrama, but Hough plays it straight for the most part, except for a couple of humorous episodes early in the film (such as the notorious 'candle' incident during an unlikely sexual encounter between Thomas and Wyeth!). The performances are fairly theatrical, though Cushing's zealous witchfinder is a study in quiet intensity (the actor looks particularly gaunt here, having lost his beloved wife shortly before commencement of principal photography). Former 'Playboy' centerfolds Madeleine and Mary Collinson - who appear to have been dubbed in an effort to beef up their unskilled performances - are visually stunning in the bosomy Hammer style, while David Warbeck (later a cult favorite in mainland European exploitation movies), Dennis Price (KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS), Isobel Black (THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE) and Kathleen Byron (BLACK NARCISSUS) are featured in major supporting roles. The film was released theatrically with a UK 'X' certificate in 1971 because of some sloppy gore and a handful of self-conscious nude scenes, though the British censor has since awarded the uncut video print a lowly '15' rating, which indicates how attitudes have changed in the intervening years.

Hammer movies seem to divide horror fans. You either dig them or you don't, and I most certainly do! In my opinion even the weaker movies from that studio are still worth a look, and 'Twins Of Evil' is one of the better ones, and therefore essential viewing. It may not be as great as 'The Vampire Lovers', which it has a tenuous link to (it isn't really a "sequel" as such but also deals with the wicked Karnstein family, so if you haven't seen the former, don't sweat it), but it's still damn entertaining. Horror legend and Hammer regular Peter Cushing puts in a strong performance as the overly zealous witchfinder Gustav Weil. He always can be depended upon to take the material seriously, sometimes more seriously than it deserves. The Collinson twins who play his nieces are pretty and can act adequately, but show nowhere near as much flesh as you might expect. They may be the stars according to the title of the movie but are easily overshadowed by Cushing and cult figures Dennis Price (Franco's 'Vampyros Lesbos', the Vincent Price black comedy 'Theatre Of Blood') and David Warbeck (Fulci's 'The Black Cat' and 'The Beyond', and Russ Meyer's little seen 'Blacksnake!'). The rest of the supporting cast are all fine, especially Damien Thomas as the decadent Count Karnstein. As I said 'Twins Of Evil' didn't impress me as much as 'The Vampire Lovers' which I still think is THE Hammer vampire classic, but along with 'Vampire Circus' it is an underrated movie that deserves to be seen by every horror buff. Director John Hough incidentally went on to make the frightening 'Legend Of Hell House' and the cult Peter Fonda road movie 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry'. 'Twins Of Evil' is yet another solid effort from the much loved Hammer studios.

In my opinion a Hammer Vampire Classic. It's early 70's, so Hammer Studios are mixing blood sucking with naked buxom wenches. Prior to this, punters had to be content with heaving bosoms, rather than the full monty.

This is the 3rd part of the Karnstein Trilogy, with Vampire Lovers and Lust For A Vampire being the other movies in the series. They are all a similar take on the same story - Vampire Lovers has a lesbian flavour, and Lust For A Vampire is set in a finishing school for girls. All have the Karnstein family as the predatory vampires in one form or another.

Twins Of Evil has Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson in the title roles, the twist being one is good and one evil. The evil one is drawn to the roguish Count on the hill, and falls prey to his blood-sucking tendencies. Meanwhile, Uncle Gustav (Peter Cushing) is hunting down suspected witches in a puritanical fervor, leading to him doubting the purity of his twin nieces. Satanic undertones and a love interest with handsome Anton Hoffer are thrown in to keep the movie rolling along.

Hammer Horror Films are always full of great sets, costumes and stirring music (usually re-used from the previous five movies) and this scores high on all three. The Collinson twins are better Playmates than actresses, but fill their parts and costumes magnificently. Peter Cushing had just lost his wife, and his acting has a harder edge to it than normal - perhaps due to this sad loss.

Anything from the 70's is going to look a bit dated now, but I think that Hammer got the Gothic feel and sex-horror mix about right with this fine outing. It's a Midnight Matinee vampire romp that should not disappoint.