Twins of Evil is a 1971 British horror film, written by Tudor Gates and directed by John Hough. It is the third and final instalment of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy.
The film tells the story of recently orphaned identical twins – Maria and Frieda – who move from their home in Venice to Central Europe to live with their Puritan uncle, Gustav. (Peter Cushing doing his best Witchfinder General impression)
One twin, Frieda, quickly falls for the randy Count Karnstein, who enjoys a reputation for being a ‘wicked man’.
The count is indeed wicked, and happy to engage in a bit of human sacrifice in order to resurrect the long-dead Countess Karnstein.
In the blink of an eye, the sexy count is now a vampire, Frieda is embracing her dark side, and Peter Cushing’s Gustav is burning women at the stake like there is no tomorrow.
Twins of Evil is, in my opinion, a pretty decent film. It is infinitely better than the woeful Lust for a Vampire, and creates a nice sense of dread. Peter Cushing is quite terrifying as Gustav, and the whole repressed, Puritanical attitude of the day is very well realised.
There are a couple of memorable moments, and the stand out scene for me is the resurrection of Countess Karnstein, complete with lashings of blood and ominous claps of thunder.
There are also numerous scenes of women being burnt at the stake, which are suitably grim and help illustrate the hysteria regarding witchcraft, which was so prevalent in Europe in years gone by.
As this is 1970s Hammer we have boob shots a-plenty, and the film also ends with the traditional scene of angry villagers marching en masse, carrying their flaming torches. I mean let’s face it, it is the only way to end a Hammer film from this era!
To reiterate, this film is way superior to the awful Lust for a Vampire, which may sound a bit like damning with faint praise, but it is a pretty decent effort in its own right.
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