Retrospective: Twins of Evil (1971)

[Shane Burridge]

Twins of Evil (1971) 87m

As soon as it became permissible to show some skin in mainstream cinema, 

Hammer Studios supplemented their established reputation for horror by adding 

nudity to their films. Although their blood looked like red paint, the Hammer 

films revitalized the icons of horror cinema - Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, 

Jekyll and Hyde, The Wolfman - in widescreen color for audiences who wanted 

to see their gore painted garishly onscreen and not modestly off-camera. 

Dracula, natch, provided the most opportunities to show blood, and, as would 

later become evident, eroticism. Based on Sheridan Le Fanu's novel 'Carmilla', 

the studios turned out what became a "tits'n'teeth" trilogy starting with THE 

VAMPIRE LOVERS (generally regarded as the best of the three), continuing 

with LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, and finishing with TWINS OF EVIL. 

You would expect the third film in the series to have even more nudity and 

eroticism than the previous two, but oddly it contains the least - which is 

even odder taking into account that the film boasts two former Playboy 

models. The hook for the film was the presence of 19-year old twins Mary 

and Madeline Collinson, but since one of them spends the entire movie fully 

dressed and we have to wait for over an hour for the other to let us cop a 

look at the real Twins of Evil, the premise doesn't live up to its potential. 

Having one twin in dishabille in one scene at one time is no different to the 

old schtick of having one actress playing twin roles against a body double 

or split-screen. Hammer should have adopted the adage 'four breasts are 

better than two', but with no exploitation to fall back on, TWINS OF EVIL 

becomes one of the studio's minor horror efforts. Although it's not erotic, 

TWINS is still fun, even if has to make do with being 'naughty' instead'. 

The Collinsons are photogenic enough to be the main drawcard for this 

movie and they get a lot of fetching closeups, but viewers can also enjoy 

a fiery performance by Peter Cushing. As Gustav, a witch-hunting fanatic 

whose idea of a boys' night out is to scour the woods for girls to burn, 

he's strictly one-note until the concluding scenes. However, he brings to 

his role the same sense of conviction that can be seen in all of his films 

for the studio, and there aren't many actors that can wear a witch-hunting 

hat and get away with it. The precise diction of the Collinsons has been 

dubbed in, but it doesn't distract from their performances, and Madeline 

(the Evil twin - doesn't there always have to be one?) doesn't waste time 

nominating herself More Likely to be Turned into a Vampire. Even though 

time has since separated the film from its Playboy gimmick, TWINS still has 

a campy feel to it. It's first evident when Cushing addresses his excitable 

posse, who respond with Monty Python-like outbursts of "Burn her!", and 

when Cushing, in a moment of clarity, makes a declaration that underlines 

the film's title. Other unintentional laughs come from the villainous Count 

Karnstein getting agitated with news from his mute manservant that a 

mob of villagers with torches and pitchforks are descending upon his castle; 

a young peasant girl trying to outrun pursuing horsemen by using the 

not-very-useful strategy of sticking to a long straight road instead of 

ducking into the woods beside it; and Cushing berating his nieces for 

wearing inappropriately colored attire while no-one notices his wife standing 

by wearing the exact same color. TWINS has flat-looking cinematography 

(by Dick Bush, and can anyone tell me why he didn't at least refer to himself 

as Richard to avoid oxymoronic puns?) and a score that could slot into a 

spaghetti western, but it does have the hallmarks of Hammer period films, 

with some production values shown in the sets and costumes, even if they 

had been recycled from previous movies. The vampire theme gets a bit 

muddled at first among all the witch-burning and devil-summoning, but 

there's enough mirrors, crosses and stakes to keep it from being altogether 

forgotten. Besides that, Madeline manages to look both cute *and* sexy 

with fangs. What red-blooded male could resist her?

sburridge at hotmail.com

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