Twins of Evil

Synapse Films, as promised, has produced another in their stellar Blu-ray/DVD Combo sets of rare Hammer product as they had last year with "Vampire Circus." They had promised us presentations of "Twins of Evil," the final installment of Hammer's Karnstein trilogy, and soon to come now, "Hands of the Ripper" and also "Countess Dracula" (which may be a hard sell as it was rather recently, but now going out-of-print, of the Mid-nite Double Feature with "The Vampire Lovers" and may prevent buyers from getting the great bonus features and extremely beautiful Blu-rays of a Synapse version). I've noticed a new edition of the second of the Karnstein trilogy, "Lust for a Vampire" available in a rather pricey DVD presentation out now and have pulled the plug. I have always, after reading John Fowles's "The Collector" and seen how collecting can be seen as a preoccupation with death and "Lust for a Vampire" has always been trashed as a poor entry for Hammer and the additions to the trilogy beyond the first, "The Vampire Lovers" as being associated with Sheridan Le Fanu's classic "Carmilla" as barely palatable, and especially with "Twins of Evil" to be exploitative as "Carmilla" in its story is merely a plot device and the use of the "Karnstein" name. "Twins of Evil" also came about specifically because Hammer, growing used in the early seventies to using nudity and presenting insight of the dual relaxed morality of the Victorian era in their dwindling popularity in the times of the early seventies, decided to feature twin Playboy playmates, the Collinson twins, Mary and Madeleine, as the latest titillation in a vampire film. "Twins of Evil" is pretty good, with a duality in its plot combining the witch hunt violence popularized by AIP's "Witchfinder General" (AKA: "The Conqueror Worm") starring Vincent Price and vampire horror with, of course, the obvious duality of a good twin and a bad twin, but neither Collinson was much of a actress and there are many dual-conflicted scenes where it is a question of believability in a scene due to the quality of their acting. "Lust for a Vampire," apparently whose only plus is that it is a requisite as part of a trilogy is reportedly that bad. So, I refuse to buy it at this writing. The sins of collecting have bothered me before in the past and later I overrode my decisions, but by collecting Hammer films, one already has a predilection for a lot of bad cinema. And to decide to go with the trend appears not so menacing when one looks at film-making today and the truly terrible A-list film-making, and the pleasures of Hammer as classics become acceptable. Peter Cushing in the Vincent Price role of the witchfinder general is excellent. Tudor Gates has written an otherwise great screenplay. A lot of the questionable taste added to the production are owed to its producers, the showman team of Harry Fine and Michael Style. John Hough, new to Hammer, directed well. He later directed Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Watcher in the Woods." Also starring Dennis Price, Damien Thomas (then touted as a fledgling upcoming star of evil) and David Warbeck ("The Beyond") in a well-played earlier role as the love interest for the twins. Originally released by Universal on a double-bill with "Hands of the Ripper." Two "classics" in one. Who would have thought?P.S.: January is usually a slow month and I felt deprived of seeing the 2nd of the "Karnstein" trilogy, so I relented and bought "Lust for a Vampire." 1/13. Read my review.

The Hammer film from 1971 stars the Collinson twins, also known to many of us as Playboy Centerfold Misses Octobor from 1970, a couple of twins from Malta. The plot is simple. Peter Cushing is part of the Brotherhood, a group of puritans who think it their duty to burn sexy, young, innocent women - I mean witches - at the stake. The more people die from vampire attacks or go missing the more women they kill in fear - without any proof that those women are evil or even bad tempered. Of course this is a Hammer Film so all the women are lovely, that sexy-cute kind of look that would make men and women drool. Don't forget outfits that make you remember they are female.You start to wonder who the bad guys are as you can't really think of the Brotherhood as the Heroes. The funny thing is the Count, played by Damien Thomas, becomes a vampire after the movie has already started. Which brings up the point - who was killing people BEFORE he turned into one of the undead? By the way, this actor would also appear in Shogun, Blakes 7, and A.D. so keep an eye out for him! Oh, and be on the look out for Kathleen Byron - she was one of my favorite actresses in Black Narcissus. She plays the wife of Cushing's character.The story seems to focus more on Cushing's character, which does give it that realistic twist, a flawed man trying to be a good man. The twins do a very good job for their first film - and as far as I know their last. One is turned into a vampire and the other falls in love. In other words, the good twin and the bad twin. This IS kind of funny as in real life the two twins had different educations - one went to a commercial college and one went to a convent!Of course things sometimes get a tad silly, such as when the Count tries to switch the girls to save the one who is a vampire - his plan almost works.The settings are wonderful - Hammer films could always find a good castle - and the outfits are also delightful. The whole atmosphere is dark and thrilling and it seems that the Count, even as a vampire, can move around during the day. Thank you Hammer for getting that RIGHT!This Portuguese Edition is 83 minutes long, in color, and still in English so don't worry. Sadly, unlike most DVDs with Hammer films, there are no fun extras. I got this edition because I could not find one cheaper and only wanted THIS movie but now I believe there are more available so I would suggest shopping around for the edition you want. Sometimes the movie will be part of a bigger collection so it really depends on if you just want this film or are looking for a bunch of Hammer Horror films. Enjoy!

At long last, TWINS OF EVIL is available in an attractive DVD/Blu Ray Combo pack. The folks who brought us the excellent VAMPIRE CIRCUS package have done it again! Once again the fine folks at Synapse Films have given a beloved genre classic the sort of careful attention and affection once reserved for a handful of art films under the Criterion banner. Although largely ignored and critically maligned at the time of its release, TWINS OF EVIL is one of the most interesting latter-day offerings from Britain's legendary Hammer films. Obviously inspired as much by the Vincent price shocker WITCHFINDER GENERAL (aka CONQUEROR WORM), TWINS OF EVIL stars the incredible Peter Cushing as a puritanical witch hunter who discovers his twin nieces (Mary and Madeline Collinson, the first twins to appear in PLAYBOY magazine)may be under the thrall of the hedonistic local aristocrat, Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), who just so happens to be a member of the most notorious family of vampires in Europe (at least, the ones not named Dracula!). Synapse has provided a lovely, clean uncut print of John Hough's shocker; if you're only familiar with the muddy, sloppily edited black market versions of this film, you are in for a treat! And don't forget to check out the documentary on Hammer and exploitation cinema included on the disc--there are recreations of Sheridan Le Fanu's classic novella CARMILLA (the inspiration for a trio of Hammer Horrors, of which TWINS is the third installment) featuring the beautiful and talented actress Candace Cherie, who I am proud to number among my former film class students. I can't wait to see what Hammer Horror Synapse releases next!

Einer meiner Lieblingsfilme mit Peter Cushing.Gute Bild- und Tonqualität der DVD.

This is a simply terrific film if you're into the old Hammer Productions movies or just old vampire movies in general. This along with the Vampire Lovers are my favorites. Not going to get into a long review as there are several that say exactly what I would have, but my real reason for writing this is to say how surprised I am that nobody has mentioned that Damian Lewis, the sinister vampire in this one looks like he could be Jimmy Fallon's twin brother. Seriously there's a seriously strong resemblance here that jumps out at me every time I watch it. Does nobody else see it or is it just me and my wife??

双子の美人姉妹が魅力的、P.カッシングは老体にムチ打っている気がします。

This was the third and final part in the KARNSTIEN saga a nd its the best of the three which started with THE VAMPIRE LOVERS;I wont go into the story as i think it spoils it for the buyer but will say think WITCHFINDER GENERAL meets KARNSTIENS and you get the idea .NOW for the disc the sound and picture are very good the case on the inside has a nice poster of the movie on the extra front we get photo gal but the best is the trailers we get of the movie both from here and the states the best one is the one for both TWINS OF EVIL / HANDS OF THE RIPPER .This disc is a lot better than the NETWORK dvd which i must say was good but this is a lot better on the sound and picture front so if you enjoy this mov ie buy this disc you should love it saying that i am waiting now for some called HAMMER fans saying things that are wrong with the disc we all know who they are but take it from me i have had this on the projector and can say it looks and sounds very good and that was on a 8 ft wide picture.One last thing HAMMER brought the KARNSTIENS back one last time in the very underrated CAPTAIN KRONUS VAMPIRE HUNTER

Twins of Evil (ó Drácula y las mellizas) como se llamó en España es una de las joyas de la corona de Hammer Films. El gran Peter Cushing interpreta magistralmente a un puritano y perverso inquisidor, lo que no hace más que elevar el nivel de ésta perla del cine vampírico clásico, inmensamente superior (en mi opinión) a las actuales interpretaciones del vampirismo. No hay más que echarle una ojeada a la saga Crepúsculo y demás sucedáneos para salir corriendo si eres un fan del cine clásico.El Blu Ray es americano y está lockeado en la region A, o sea que a no ser que tengáis un reproductor multiregion os será imposible ver la película. Lo mismo ocurre con el dvd que incluye, lockeado en zona 1, o sea unícamente reproducible en reproductores dvd multizona.Para los que ésto no suponga problema alguno, es una gran edición con una imagen cristalina y vívida tanto en HD como en SD. El sonido respeta el audio original y también cotiene subtítulos en inglés para sordos. Además hay una escena eliminada y un par de documentales como extras.Cinco estrellas para un GRAN blu ray. Tenía mis dudas porque es el primer título que adquiero del sello synapse pero han quedado totalmente despejadas.Espero muchas más ediciones Hammer a la misma altura que la de ésta película. Y si la próxima puede ser "Kung-Fú contra los 7 vampiros de Oro" (The Legend of the 7 golden vampires) mejor que mejor.