GL84 Living in 16th Century Germany, the head of a group of fanatical Puritans becomes the guardian of his twin nieces who get involved with a local warlord turning villagers into vampires and is caught in the middle of the war between the two sides battling for the two girls.There is quite a lot to like here being one of their better efforts. One of the better features here is that the film genuinely is a mixture between the more explicit violence and erotic tones present in many films. That is in fine form here as the use of the twins in here is quite an advantage as they have a great look to them since even though they were identical, you could completely believe one could be demure and innocent, yet the other could be hideous and vicious. That the sequence where a series of symbolic closeups on a hand stroking a candlestick during a love sequence is a finely erotic moment is a prime example of the two types of film this can be mixing along with the seductive qualities of the main vampire during his pagan games and ceremonies during the castle scenes, and the general manner of the activities around the village leave this with a lot of sensuality on the fringes of the story. As well, Karnstein Castle is a superbly crafted Gothic house and all the time spent is very atmospheric and realistically historic from the resurrection of the main vampire to the spectacular action scene featuring their march on the castle grounds that lets the location get put to good use as the multitude of skirmishes and battles leaves this one featuring plenty of travels through cobwebbed corridors and secret passages while it also gives us a short but great gore-fest in a shockingly well-done decapitation, a nasty ax- in-the-back, a horrific body hitting floor like sack of spuds, and a great enormous spike through the guts inside a spectacular conclusion that really hits some moments. Even the torture sequences are quite brutal, and they give it some extra violence, from the introduction of a busty wench pursued through a dark forest by a bunch of men dressed in black, being tied to a stake and burned alive to the various tortures inflicted over the innocents throughout the village that connects it to the other films. The last big plus is a truly outstanding performance by Cushing who is given one of his most multi-faceted characters ever, a complex and ultimately hypocritical man who does indeed recognize evil and who wants to rid the land of the evil yet his fanaticism corrupts him as much as the villain. These are it's finer points as there is very little actually to complain about here. The main issue here is that the nudity is actually pretty restrained, as the nightgowns hide much and are really reduced to a couple of scenes late in the film. There are also quite a few lapses of logic that can only be overcome if you have a really warped suspension of disbelief. The biggest is that the evil twin apparently becomes a vampire after she receives the vampire's bite because she's supposedly Satanic. Establishing her prior to this scene as truly evil and not just rebellious would have made her transformation more believable as everything says she's just a rebellious teenager. These, though, are minor complaints.Today's Rating/R: Nudity, Graphic Violence and several sex scenes.

angus-lamont Well what can I say, after reading so many positive reviews on this film, I finally sat down and watched "Twins of Evil"! Highly recommend the Network Blu Ray and probably one of the best looking films I've seen. The titular duo are great, as is Damien Thomas, who is right up there with Lee and David Peel as the evil Count Karnstein. Peter Cushing is phenomenal in this, and at first I was expecting him to be the villain, you forget he is actually on the good side. Dennis Price I thought was decent as the hero character, just glad Cushing interrupted his musical number! As someone who admires cinematography, the sets and colour palette in the film is stunning, enhanced even more by the HD transfer, particularly the scenes in Karnstein's castle! The special effects are great too, especially the reflection shots, which I guess were accomplished with a fake mirror. Great soundtrack too. Just wish the Blu Ray had more extras or a commentary, though I understand a US release does so. Safe to say it is definitely going amongst my Hammer favourites! British Horror at its finest!

Fella_shibby I saw this movie in the mid 80s on a VHS. Then again ten years back. My dad used to watch a lot of hammer films especially of Christopher Lee's. Sometimes he used to allow me to watch these hammer films when i was very young. The funny part was during explicit portions of the films, he used to forward scenes n used to giv the explanation that the VHS needed to b forwarded coz the print was bad during that portion. Sometimes v laugh till date when v ponder over hammer films. Well, coming back to this movie, it is a prequel to The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire n the three makes up the Karnstein trilogy. Many horror films from this period, especially by Hammer, often had erotic overtones. Twins of Evil is perhaps the mildest in eroticism compared to the two predecessors. This movie has the real-life twins and former Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson. Most of the women are young and beautiful, especially the two twins, with big breasts and with the lowest-cut dresses n awesome cleavages. Surprisingly there's no real nudity till the end n nothing happens. I felt really annoyed. There's little actual Vampirism to talk about. It has some decent cinematography n like always Hammer captures the period strongly, from the set details of Karnstein's castle to the clothing and props. It's directed by verstaile John Hough, the guy who directed sexy Hammer horror films to Disney family films (Legend of hell house, Escape to witch mountain). The only saving grace other than the eye candy was Peter Cushing. He was a talented actor, but he allowed himself to be typecast in the horror genre. Well from the Hammer repertory company i was a fan of Cushing n Christopher Lee.

one-nine-eighty A Hammer classic and the 3rd film in the Karnstein trilogy which previously saw THE VAMPIRE LOVERS and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. It's got Peter Cushing in it, it's got buxom twins, it's got a hint of occasional sexual/ erotic content, it's got blood and guts, it's got a decadent wardrobe, it's got melodramatic acting, it's sinister, it's got wobbly sets, it's set back in a time where burning a repressed minority was accepted, and it's in the middle of the random English countryside (in this case mainly Wrexham). Peter Cushing is Gustav Weil - the God fearing leader of the Brotherhood, a rag tag bunch of idiots who do what he says and what he says is to stalk pretty girls and then burn them to death on crosses. His luck runs out as his two young buxom nieces - Maria and Frieda (The Collinson twins, Mary and Madeleine) move in with him - what on Earth could go wrong?? Well, as it happens Count Karstein (Damien Thomas) happens, the Satan worshipping brings back Mircalla Karstein (Katya Wyeth) from the afterlife and is subsequently turned into a Vampire. One of the buxom nieces (Madelein) finds herself attracted to the strange and mysterious Karstein and soon opens her legs for him. Ultimately Gustav knows that evil has arrived and along with the Brotherhood he must set to work to cleanse the town and surrounding areas. An original screenplay by Tudor Gates, Dick Bush's photography and mise en scène is great in this film and John Hough continues with his excellent handling of Hammer House vampires looking at lust and morality. Released in 1972 and made for about £200,000 this is a great film with everything you'd expect from Hammer, it's also an excellent addition to any horror fans collection - especially if you like the oldies.