Twins of Evil (1972)

Twins of Evil is about two sisters who have to go live with their aunt and uncle after their father past away. The uncle however is the leader of the church and the head of the witch burning council. Neither of the girls approve of this treatment and protest in their own way. If it wasn't for my desire to see if Gustav gets what is coming to him I might have just turned the movie off. None of the other characters are really that interesting to say the least. I think the movie used every twin cliché imaginable which was annoying. The villain was weak and not very intimating, while his lacky was pretty awesome until one scene that I will not say. You will know it when you see it, for 1972 it is pretty sad as they didn't need to include it. I think the film is held in high standing mainly due to the casting decisions. The IMDb rating is more accurate. The film is okay, not bad like some of the other Hammer films but just middle of the road on the very long list.

Any viewer has to remember that this is a Hammer film and the year of production is 1971. This was racy sexy vampire libido turn-on drive- in movie stuff at the time. Certainly a great drive-in flick for a few beers and hopefully a hot date with fantasy in her mind. However....by any decades standards...what starts out as a really good horror film gets silly at the end. Still...as far as eye candy goes...this film rates a 10 for lots of babes and studly hero. No literally dirty girls here...only very figuratively dirty. Others have already noted the bevy of Hammer beauties in this film and it does not disappoint!At least one other has noted that the film also shows modern society in respect to the paranoia factor of certain factions of society. The Peter Cushing Brotherhood reminded me of Global Warming nuts while watching the film. "We must burn at the stake anyone who disagrees with us!" A better script would have served this film well and a remake could probably do quite well with a meatier script. In the end it gets silly. Count Karnstein tells his Vampire hottie that Peter Cushing and his Brotherhood can come burn them and they will laugh at the Brotherhood because there bodies will die but their souls will find another body to inhabit (these vampires can only be killed by beheading or by a stake through the heart). Undoubtedly there is a bevy of beautiful bodies waiting to be taken over.DOH! The Count is informed by his servant that they are are bringing axes! And...Sharp implements too! DOH! So now they are trapped and killed because they are that stupid!!???Now THAT is just plain silly!If you like vampire flicks....before vampires all became comic book superhero vampires...then you will be entertained. If you have a hot babe you know with a bent for this sort of flick then by all means check it out with her. They will enjoy the visual and they will also enjoy the silliness...and with some wine or the like it probably will work real well to bring out her Twin of Evil! ;)

TWINS OF EVIL is the third and final of Hammer's Karnstein trilogy and it has the most interesting storyline of all three. That's because the film combines two successful sub-genres of horror, the witch-burning film and the vampire movie. The two subjects don't necessarily go hand in hand so it's remarkable at just how successfully they combine here.The movie is headlined by Peter Cushing in one of his most villainous performances as a witch hunter who'd give Matthew Hopkins a run for his money. Cushing spends half the movie burning innocent girls alive and the other half being a general fiend and antagonist, and what's really special is that Cushing still finds the spark of humanity deep within his character. You hate him, but a small part of you admires him despite his actions.The Karnstein plodding is familiar stuff, with Damien Thomas an acceptable if unremarkable villain; the stuff with the twins, Mary and Madeleine Collinson, is less interesting (they weren't cast for their acting talents, after all) but they don't have an overwhelming amount of screen time. David Warbeck has a nice role as a youthful hero. As usual, TWINS OF EVIL wins out thanks to the sumptuous production values, even at this late stage of the Hammer game; the film is a visual treat of cobwebby castles, ruined graveyards, and haunted crypts, contrasting with the general bucolic charm of the period.

I know that it is controversial to place this movie among my favourite vampire films. Because obviously this movie is regarded as somewhat of a guilty pleasure among horror fans. But I do have to say I enjoyed this movie more than some other Hammer films.I liked this movie particularly because of the youthful characters and the general sexy nature of the story. And of course the nudity! This is the first Hammer vampire movie I saw with some delicious nudity. And not the kind of overdose of nudity that you see in Jess franco movies. But it is all very measured and erotic. In many ways you don't really root for Cushing's character that much because he seems like a stuffy old man in front of Karnstein and the twins. I liked the overall idea of the the evil twin in a vampire story. I don't know if it is original but I certainly found it interesting to see the contrast between the twins and the various ways in which it affects the story. Another thing I found interesting is the "chasing the bad boy" attitude (hey it might be centuries before but the attitudes remain the same!). We all want what we can't have and it is perfectly illustrated in Anton and Frida's preferences. I liked the idea of Cushing's character not being that clean cut. In the sense, we are repelled by his witch huntings but still somehow he thinks of himself as the nice man who fights for God. Somehow this seems like a changing of the times (post 1960s and all). He is also questioned, not like some pre 1960 movies where the religious authorities are not questioned that much. Both sides are portrayed as being evil in their own way and we don't really root for anyone other than maybe Anton who is able to see reason rather than act according to emotion.The twins Mary and Madeleine collinson are surprisingly good actors. They aren't just pretty faces in the movie, they have a large enough role and there is substance in the character. Damien thomas is also pretty good as the Count. For a guilty pleasure movie, the performances and the story are actually pretty good. Anyway I enjoyed the movie very much!8/10