The Gruesome Twosome

Look if this was the first Herschell Gordon Lewis movie I'd ever seen it would probably be the last. Luckily I've seen his blood trilogy so I can't dismiss him entirely, but this is easily the weakest of his movies I've seen. The script (by the 'Blood Feast' writer) is trash, and while the movie only goes on for 70 minutes it really drags on and is full of unnecessary padding. Some of this padding is quite odd, such as the opening talking wigs sequence, and the gratuitous KFC eating go-go dancing bit (an early bit of product placement from Lewis), but mostly it's dull. I will admit that the handful of gore sequences are quite realistic for Lewis (that is certainly not always the case!), and Chris Martell makes an okay baddie in the Arch Hall Jr mold, but he doesn't get anywhere as much screen time Elizabeth Davis who is awful, unfunny and totally irritating. Acting in Lewis movies is very variable to say the least, but 'The Gruesome Twosome' has one of the most untalented casts I've ever seen. So, the verdict is only watch this if you are a Lewis obsessive, otherwise newcomers should avoid this one and go straight to 'Two Thousand Maniacs!' or 'Color Me Blood Red' which tie as his best two gore movies.

I've seen a few Herschell Gordon Lewis films and in general I'm not a fan. Admittedly, I've not yet seen any of his blood trilogy, but based on his films that I have seen this one is by far the best. The opening scene is wildly entertaining, featuring two wigs in a shop window talking to each other. It sets the tone for the rest of the film.

The movie features many fun, engaging scenes that are enjoyable to watch even if they often have nothing to do with the plot, including several ridiculous minutes during which a man guzzles beer and stuffs his face with potato chips while his girlfriend tries to get him to tell her he loves her.

Additionally, The Gruesome Twosome features more character development than other Gordon films I've seen, especially from the female lead and the quirky old lady who runs the wig shop. And I was honestly surprised by the acting at certain points. In particular, the guy who played the mentally challenged son of the old lady did a great job. Usually those roles seem poorly cast in low budget films like this. The actors can never seem to get it quite right, but this guy really nailed it. It made me wonder if maybe he really was mentally challenged in real life.

The editing is very sloppy and I got the idea that the filmmakers didn't spend much time on it or care about it. They were probably in a rush to get it shown. But that makes it better and more enjoyable. Some scenes that otherwise may have been pretty dull become hilarious due to the bad editing. I get the feeling that the filmmakers had to have known this.

The Gruesome Twosome is never boring and at just over an hour in length, I could watch it again and again. And I probably will.

H.G. Lewis like to stage bloody set pieces. However in order to show them off he likes to make a feature length film. Many of them aren't very good and they're padded out to make the 70 minute mark. The gruesome Twosome is one of those films. The film revolves around a crazy old lady who makes nice realistic looking wigs and her ogreish son. She has a secret in her wig making that you'll find hair raising. They're many filler scenes placed through out the movie. The most notorious one (and clever) takes place in the beginning where two wigs are holding a conversation. The gore set pieces are cool but you'll have to sit through the movie to experience them.

Recommended for campy cult fans.

B

The Gruesome Twosome are a little old lady called Mrs Pringle, who runs a wig shop, and her retarded son Rodney who murders and scalps pretty college girls. A student called Kathy investigates their disappearances. Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, the "Godfather of gore", Gruesome has four splatter scenes, very graphic but even at 72 minutes the film is heavily padded out. The beginning has a bizarre 4 minute conversation between two talking styrofoam heads, later added to stretch out the running time. We are also treated - if that's the corrected word - to drawn out scenes of groovy dancing, car racing, etc, again just to pad out time. Kathy's initial investigation is strictly comical, featuring that horror staple, a creepy janitor. Elizabeth Davis as the very eccentric Mrs Pringle is a lot of fun, she has a stuffed, scary looking big cat as a pet, called Napoleon. Hilarious! The acting at best is amateur but generally it is abysmal. This is a very cheap looking, crude movie, on purely technical merit I would score it only 2/10. However I do enjoy bad, strange and cult movies, this one leans towards the so bad it's good type. To date "Blood. Feast" is still my favourite HG Lewis movie.

Mrs. Pringle (Elizabeth Davis) owns a wig shop in a little town in Florida, but she is a demented woman who lives with her mentally disabled son, Rodney (Chris Martell), in a home where she rents rooms to young co-eds attending the local university.

"Gruesome Twosome" was developed in part because exhibitors were telling H. G. Lewis that his films did not have enough blood, leading him to make this gory film. This request is ironic in that "Blood Feast" (1963) was seen as too bloody just a few years before. He went from pioneering the gore movement to being seen as too light! This film corrected that.

Although I have been a fan of Lewis for many years, even publishing an article on his "Gore Gore Girls", I had not seen this film until Arrow Video put it out as part of their "Feast" collection. I can only imagine how rough previous copies are, because even with their painstaking efforts, the sound and picture are pretty rough. The physical film must have been rotting away, fading and getting holes.

Some have praised the film, but I find it to be one of his weaker entries. The introduction was made later to pad the picture, and it shows. But much of the film seems like padding. The dance scene, the long trailing by Kathy Baker (Gretchen Wells in her only role) of the college janitor... the film could easily have been better paced at under an hour.

Other filler includes some shots of Ray Sager ("Wizard of Gore") eating potato chips for no reason. Reflecting years later, Lewis admits he spent too much time on "the periphery" with things "not germane to the plot", but Lewis feels this had the unintended effect of giving audiences a recovery period between gore shots. He may be right, but it would have been nice if the time was filled with plot and not filler.

The strength comes in the gore. While the effects are in some ways pretty awful, such as the clear use of wigs for the victims being scalped, the actual blood and guts is very much ahead of its time and of course became Lewis' hallmark. Sure, a "dead" girl may be seen blinking her eyes, but at least the audiences were grossed out.

The Blu-ray from Arrow Video is pretty good. The picture and sound, as noted above, is far from perfect, but it is probably the best version released to date. The audio commentary is full of wonderful stories, including great asides about the "Blood Shed Theater" in Chicago. Some of the other features are unusual... an interview with filmmaker Peaches Christ seems out of place. A short piece on low budget films that came from Florida is really good, but not nearly long enough. A segment with an interview of Lewis on "censors" turns into more of a rant on his views of Facebook, which is a bit obscure.