Wednesday, October 24, 2018

TWINS OF EVIL: DOUBLE THE TROUBLE



I’m a sucker for Hammer Films. My first exposure to Dracula was not Bela Lugosi but Christopher Lee in HORROR OF DRACULA. When I’d learn a movie was made by Hammer I’d make a point of trying to get a chance to see it. There are still plenty that for one reason or another I never had access to but thankfully the easy access to their arrival on disc has helped with that problem. Such is the case with TWINS OF EVIL.

I’d heard of the movie less about the horror aspects of it than the appearance of twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson. They’d created a stir when they appeared in Playboy together and their being stars in a movie like this, including a nude scene or two, was enough to get the attention of the press. It also meant that at age 14 the odds of me seeing the movie when released dropped considerably. I was able to pick up a copy at the Synapse table at Cinema Wasteland (October 2018) and finally had the chance to see the film though. Was it worth the wait?

The movie features the two young women as Marie and Freida Gellhorn, recently orphaned and on their way to live with their aunt Katy (Kathleen Byron) and uncle Gustav Weil (Peter Cushing). What they don’t know coming in is that Gustav is the leader of a strict group of puritans known as the Brotherhood whose main goal is to eliminate anyone they think of as a witch by burning them at the stake. Their first meeting with their uncle doesn’t go well as he finds their mode of dress to flamboyant.

Atop a hill nearby is the castle of Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas). Karnstein is the epitome of evil, a man willing to sell his soul to the devil for power and new forms of depraved entertainment to satiate his needs. When local servant Dietrich (Dennis Price) doesn’t provide him with new women to abuse and murder, he actually sells his soul and becomes a vampire. Attracted to the new girls in town he sets his sights on Frieda.

Frieda is an easy mark, rebellious due to her uncle’s methods and looking for excitement. She becomes easy prey for Karnstein and is soon under his spell. Her sister continues to worry about her and takes punishment from their uncle for covering for her sister. When Frieda becomes a vampire as well the wheels are set in motion for evil to be unleashed, for the pious leader to realize the pain he’s inflicted on so many others and for a hero in the form of Anton (David Warbeck), the local teacher in love with Marie, to come to the rescue.

By the time this film was released in 1971 Hammer had begun to show some changes in their films. At one time considered the premiere company in all things horror they’d begun to become stale and competition in the form of Amicus and others had begun to move into their top selling category. In an effort to stave off the competition Hammer began to include more skin in their movies than they’d done previously. It began with incredibly low cut tops for the time and eventually went to full-fledged nudity. The trick worked and Hammer soon was drawing an audience once again.

The inclusion of the two models in this film was a publicists dream come true. Not only could they tout the appearance of a beautiful woman willing to bare all but they had two women who were identical willing to do so. The promotion of the film dwelt more on that than it did the story, the third film from the studio to focus on the Karnstein family. It worked and the movie performed well.

But is it any good? I would say that it’s one of their better period horror pieces and not due to the nudity included. Like their film WITCHFINDER GENERAL they’ve brought back the inclusion of religious zealots whose methods create as much evil as they do destroy it. It’s not an indictment of the group that is the focus but of their methods. It doesn’t celebrate the evil that is Karnstein it shows his depravity in minor fashion and the fact that the evil some think is there actually does exist.

The sets and costuming of the film are worth noting and it’s sad that a movie like this, due to the fact that it was a horror film, was probably completely overlooked come Oscar time. Both deserve substantial credit and should have been recognized.

The acting here stands out as well. Both Collinson twins do a solid job here in what was their first starring roles. The combination of innocence and the ability to be lured by something different is an interesting combination to watch in the pair. Thomas is evil personified in an aristocratic sort of way, uninterested in the effect his interests have on the locals. And Cushing once more proves why he deserved more credit than he ever received when alive. His portrayal of Weill here shows his talents as both the tormentor and the tormented.

Synapse has done an amazing job with the film. The crispness and clarity of picture is wonderful. Their release of the film contains both the DVD and blu-ray editions. The extras here are amazing. Included are THE PROPS THAT HAMMER BUILT: THE KINSEY COLLECTION featurette, a motion stills gallery, deleted scenes, an isolated music track, the theatrical trailer, TV spots and most importantly THE FLESH AND THE FURY: X-POSING TWINS OF EVIL, feature length documentary on the studio and its infamous Karnstein trilogy of films. With that extra alone you end up with two movies for the price of one. Kudos to Synapse for their release of the film. If you love horror, love Hammer and want to own the best edition of this film available then by all means make a point of picking this one up.

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