Cult: 'Twins of Evil' – Hammer Films in the Sexy Seventies

It's another twist on Sheridan Le Fanu's female vampire story "Carmilla," this one announced right in the title. Playboy centerfolds Madeleine and Mary Collinson play the titular twin orphans, beautiful young women who arrive from the cultural capital of Venice to the repressive, superstitious, northern European town of Karnstein. It's ruled by a debauched Count (Damien Thomas) and terrorized by a severe Puritan sect of witch hunters (led by a pious Peter Cushing) that calls themselves "The Brotherhood" and spend their nights burning beautiful young women at the stake. 

Directed by John Hough (who came from television, notably "The Avengers," where he learned sleek style and visual wit), this 1971 feature is in its own way provocative and daring, with its presentation of religious zealots as repressed, vindictive villains who differ from the Count only in the master they serve: the Brotherhood "purifies" sins for God (but just whose sins exactly?) and the Count sacrifices his victims for the Devil. The script fails to follow this conflict to its conclusion, however, giving in to a conventional ending that lets the holy warriors off the hook for their crimes, and the Collinson twins are better models than actresses. 

Even with these problems, however, "Twins of Evil" earns its place in the Hammer canon of cult horrors. Director Hough presents a handsome picture with moody atmosphere and dramatic images. He curiously delivers more tease and décolletage than actual nudity, but he knows how to execute a set piece, whether it's a seduction by a voluptuous Playmate or the beheading of a vampire. The images of maidens burning at the stake are horrific and made all the more effective by the men gazing upon their power over these women who defy their sense of religious order. It both feeds and purges their repressed lust while Cushing, ever the true believer, prays for their redemption. Those moments are as arresting and affecting as anything in the Hammer hall of fame.

"Twins of Evil" makes its American disc debut on beautifully mastered Blu-ray+DVD Combo pack from Synapse. Mastered from a vivid, bright, undamaged print with only minimal artifacts, it is accurately presented at 1.66:1, with thin black horizontal bars on either side of the screen, with clean DTS-HD 2.0 mono sound.

 

Both the Blu-ray and DVD editions include the feature-length documentary "The Flesh and the Fury: X-Posing Twins of Evil," a well-made and information-packed production which, at 84 minutes, is almost as long as the film itself. The only real drawback to the production is that it reminds you of better films from the same source material.

 

Exclusive to the Blu-ray disc is the featurette "The Props That Hammer Built: The Kinsey Collection," a deleted scene, a motion still gallery, and an isolated music and effects track. Both discs include the original trailer but the Blu-ray features bonus TV spots.

I have a longer essay on the film at Parallax View here.

For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs, Blu-rays and streaming video for the week of July 10