The Gruesome Twosome

Gruesome Twosome, The (1967)

** (out of 4)

An elderly woman and her deranged son kill young women so that they can scalp them in order to put their hair in a wig shop. As is normally the case with a Lewis film, this one here is very short on plot but as an early splatter film goes, the gore does come off is fun red style. This is certainly a poorly made film with awful performances, bad dialogue and questionable direction but that doesn't really matter as what the film delivers is nostalgic fun. The film, as bad as it is, is a lot of fun because of how cheaply made it is and how much fun the director has with the gore. The gore effects are so obviously done but they remain fun just because of how fresh and at times original they are. One must remember that Lewis didn't have anything to copy off of so he was pretty much coming up with this stuff as he went along. If one is looking for a horror film to shock and scare them then this certainly isn't your movie but if you want a classic example of drive-in trash then this film remains fun.

Mrs. Pringle and her half-witted, needs-to-be-institutionalized son Rodney run a small business called the Little Wig Shoppe, which is also next to a room they "rent" out to beautiful college co-eds with long hair. Of course at Mrs. Pringle's establishment only 100% human hair is used. Does she then buy a lot of hair? Don't bet on it. Her son uses a knife(and later an electric carving knife) to scalp these girls for their hair and also various organs(Thursday is Napoleon's night for liver). That's right, I forgot to mention the third member of this happy little family. His name is Napoleon, and he is a stuffed Lynx(or Bobcat). Mrs Pringle talks to Napoleon throughout the whole picture. Business is booming for Mrs. Pringle till a young girl decides to investigate the disappearance of her long-haired friend out searching for an apartment. As far as Herschell Gordon Lewis flicks go, this one is decidedly a notch above films like Two Thousand Maniacs, The Wizard of Gore, and Color Me Blood Red. It has the best acting in it that I have seen for any of his films, not good but almost average! Ronnie Cass plays the demented mother with a likable camp. The film is also one of Lewis's better shot films in terms of direction. Sure we have a ridiculous scene in the beginning with two styrofoam heads with painted faces and wigs talking, but the film has a pretty good pace throughout. Am I saying this is good? No, but is it very entertaining. It also has some pretty good music in it, "Right Napoleon?" As for the gore, it's there but there really is not a lot of it and it fortunately never reaches the hyperbolic level of Lewis's The Wizard of Gore.

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.

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.

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.