Review – Twins of Evil

I wonder exactly when the good-twin-evil-twin thing first became a cliché. Given that Alexandre Dumas was using it in the late 1840s, it’s fair to assume that by the time Hammer brings it to bear in 1971 that it was already trite beyond all excuse. And in fact this isn’t the studio’s finest hour. At least they got actual twins (Madeleine and Mary Collinson) rather than forcing us to endure an endless parade of stupid split-screen setups. They also got Peter Cushing, though they don’t give him much to work with by casting him as a misogynistic witch hunter ill-equipped to deal with the local vampire infestation. The use of nudity is strange as well, absent where one might expect a great deal but then cropping up unexpectedly toward the end of the movie. Overall this isn’t the worst work Hammer ever did, but it’s a far cry from the best. Mildly amusing