Two twins, the obedient Maria and the free-spirited Frieda (Madeleine and Mary Collinson; Playboy's first twin centerfold playmates – October 1970 issue, for those who are interested) are sent to stay with their puritanical uncle, Gustav Weil (Peter Cushing), the head of the Brotherhood.
The witch and vampire hunting Brotherhood, for all their posturing, are frightened to act against the debauched Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), instead focussing their energies on easy targets like unmarried women whose "loose morals" mean they must be witches…
One night a bored Karnstein summons the spirit of his ancestor Carmilla/Mircalla during a thunderstorm. She bites him and transforms him into one of the undead. (Though where the vampire activity was coming from prior to this is anyone's guess…)
Later Frieda reacts against her Uncle's iron hand by sneaking out at night to visit Castle Karnstein, where, needless to say, the Count vampirises her.
After some vampire shenanigans Frieda is caught mid-feed by Gustav and his men. Unfortunately she is rescued by the Count, who leaves Maria to be executed in her stead. Can Anton (David Warbeck), the village schoolmaster and all-round good guy, realise the deception in time?
Okay, Twins of Evil is a misnomer. It's more like one who's a bit bad and the other who's a goody two shoes. But I guess that wouldn't have been so catchy or fitted on the poster…
Title aside, the film is interesting as an example of how far Hammer were able to retool the gothic horror formula the 1970s.
The obvious answer, of course, is that they added boobs, bums and bush, albeit in a somewhat embarrassed, half-hearted manner. You've just got to love the blatant, laughter-inducing symbolism of that candlestick masturbation scene ;-)
But it's looking beyond the eye candy that things are really of more interest.
Twins of Evil splits the traditional Hammer savant into two characters, Weil and Anton. Weil represents the negative side; narrow-minded, vindictive and seething with half-repressed desires for the wantons he must destroy. Anton represents the positive side, the application of arcane knowledge to resore the natural order of things and save the innocent.
(Here mention must be made of Cushing's extraordinary performance. While always a reliable actor who would give 100% no matter what, the utter commitment of his performance and the added depth he gives to what could easily have been a cartoon-like reinterpretation of Dracula 's Van Helsing by way of Witchfinder General , are astonishing, even creating a degree of sympathy for the character. Too bad the Collinsons are wooden as anything and Thomas out of the mu-ha-ha school of villainising.)
It's the vampires' defeat and the restoration of patriarchal authority in a new, more subtle, hegemonic form at the film's climax remind us (oops, did I spoil it) that show us where the limits of the inquiry lie: The natural, right, order of things is taken as given. A Sadean inversion, where virtue is punished and vice triumps, was never on the cards. Nor was there any prospect that a Female Vampire could survive to live freely and independently. Come back Jesus Franco, all is forgiven…
Watching the film today one wonders if Joss Whedon ever saw it. The Doppelgangerland episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where the vampire Willow from the alternate Sunnydale appears in town, leading to all sorts of confusion as she and the real Willow impersonate one another, seems too similar to be a coincidence. (Mmm, vampire Willow…) But, then again, the theme of the "double and the innocent" isn't exactly a new one for fantasic literature (cf. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) or cinema (cf. Metropolis , Nosferatu )…
This new widescreen DVD, while never about to win any awards, is nevertheless something of revelation. Though never competing with the old school Fisher/Asher/Robinson classics in terms of direction, cinematography and design respectively, it isn't the cheap and nasty looking piece of work that pan and scan video had led one to believe.
While hard to recommend to casual fans, even at £15-20 for a three disc set, Twins of Evil is a worthwhile purchase for the Hammer afficianado whose old VHS tapes are on their last legs. And, hey, you can freeze-frame the nudie bits without wearing them out ;-)
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
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