HMaM Global Mod
Post by GL on Dec 11, 2006 11:19:16 GMT -5
"Twins of Evil" is one of the best vampire, and Hammer, films ever made.
**SPOILERS**
In 16th Century Germany, Gustav Weil, (Peter Cushing) head of "The Brotherhood," a group of fanatical Puritans, becomes guardian of his twin nieces, Maria, (Mary Collinson) and Frieda, (Madeline Collinson) who decides to get involved with Count Karnstein, (Damien Thomas) a local warlord. The Count eventually takes control of a local woman, Mircalla, (Katya Keith) and is soon transformed into a vampire. When a spate of vampire killings allows Weil to begin torching and hunting the vampires, music teacher Anton, (David Warbeck) tries to stop him from killing the innocents caught in the war between the two sides.
The Good News: There is quite a lot to like here, and a truly outstanding performance by Cushing is the films highlight. He is given one of his most multi-faceted characters ever to play, a complex and ultimately hypocritical man who does indeed recognize evil, who wants to rid the land of the evil, and yet his fanaticism corrupts him as much as Count Karnstein is already corrupted. His rigid religious beliefs simply overtake the goodness in him. To be like that and still be incredibly watchable is the lynch pin that holds the film together. Besides his as-always acting, there's some wonderful features that are commonly found in these films. Karnstein Castle is a superbly crafted, Gothic home to house the Counts black sins is a superb set, and all the time spent is very atmospheric and realistically historic. The use of the twins in here is a quite an advantage. They had a great look to them since even though they were identical, you could completely believe one could be demure and innocent, yet the other could be hideous and vicious. The most explicit facet of the film is something less obvious. It is in fact the surprisingly explicit sexual sadism that flows from The Count and later Frieda. Some comedy also comes from a hilarious moment when Karnstein's huge mute servant tries to warn his master what's going on using hand signals. The defense of the castle gives us a great but short gore-fest, which culminates in a shockingly well-done decapitation, a nasty ax-in-the-back, an horrific body hitting floor like sack of spuds, and a great enormous spike through the guts inside a spectacular conclusion that really hits some moments. Even the torture sequences are quite brutal, and they give it some extra violence. The sequence where a series of symbolic closeups on a hand stroking a candlestick during a love sequence is a finely erotic moment that connects it to the other films that had a similar type moment in them. That is a prime example of the two types of film this can be. The film genuinely is a mixture between the more explicit violence and erotic tones present in many films. It does them both so well that it moves between them effortlessly and can be applied to fans of the more modern films and the old traditional films. It moves along at a brisk pace, giving us many sub-plots to hold the attention and yet never sacrificing the time spent on essential characterization. This is easily one of Hammer's fastest moving and involving films. The very dark introduction as a busty wench is pursued through a dark forest by a bunch of men dressed in black, before being tied to a stake and burned alive. Easily one of the best examples of the genre.
The Bad News: There is very little actually to complain about here. The nudity is actually pretty restrained from earlier fare, as the nightgowns cleverly hide much of the Collinson's, and are really reduced to a couple of scenes late in the film, and the rest is upon those tortured and burned. It's a far cry from the earlier ones, where they were more explicit and more in control of that factor. There are quite a few lapses of logic that can only be overcome if you have a really warped suspension of disbelief. The biggest is that the evil twin apparently becomes a vampire after she receives the vampire's bite because she's supposedly Satanic. Establishing her prior to this scene as truly evil and not just rebellious would have made her transformation more believable. It doesn't work as everything says she's just a rebellious teenager. These, though, are minor complaints.
The Final Verdict: With a fantastic split between being their Gothic self and the far more explicit films that were coming along at the time, this straddles that line expertly and manages to be a fun film as well. Highly recommended viewing for all Hammer and lesbian vampire fans, as well as those that just enjoy a finely crafted film no matter what.
Today's Rating-R: Nudity, several sex scenes and Graphic Violence
