You don't think I'd let Horrorfest go by without a visit from Hammer Studios do you? Of course not. This year we've got 1971's TWINS OF EVIL. This wasn't on Time Out's list and isn't on Netflix, either, but it was showing at the Hollywood and I couldn't pass it up.
Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing stars as a witch-hunting puritan in a small 19th century village. In between burning seemingly innocent women at the stake, he suspects the local Count (Damien Thomas) is in league with Satan.
Meanwhile, a pair of recently orphaned, beautiful, young twins arrive to live with Cushing, their uncle. One of them is sweet natured and God fearing while the other is more adventurous and curious about "sin." Of course, no sooner has she overheard Cushing railing against the Satan worshipping Count than she decides she simply MUST meet him.
Meanwhile, again, it turns out the Count actually does worship Satan. Not only that but he's recently turned into a vampire. So, this is kind of interesting. Early on in the movie you hate Peter Cushing because he's being an intolerant dickhead, preying on innocent women and burning them at the stake for crimes like living alone or not getting married. He even interrupts the Count's rendezvous with a peasant woman and you're kind of on the Count's side because he hates Cushing, too.
But once the Count turns out to actually be in league with Satan, and a vampire to boot, things change. Cushing still sucks but in this one case he just happens to be right. So now he's the guy who's going to have to kill the Count.
Anyway, of course the twin who has a crush on the Count runs off to meet him and falls under his spell. There's a few twists and turns here and there as the twins switch places a few times and you never quite know what Cushing's going to do.
Like most Hammer flicks, TWINS OF EVIL moves along at an energetic pace and is never boring. There's plenty of sleaze, Cushing is great as always, and the twins really are beautiful.
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