TWINS OF EVIL (1971)

I have gotten very behind on my blogging lately.  In celebration of Halloween, I watched this Hammer  Horror classic.

Twins of Evil starred as the main attraction former Playboy centerfolds and twin sisters Mary and Madeline Collinson.  Like any good Hammer Production it also starred Peter Cushing.

This film is the third movie in the Karnstein Trilogy, a series of Hammer movies based on the vampire story Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.  The Maltese born Collinson twins spoke English with a heavy Maltese accent and had their voices dubbed on the soundtrack by other actresses.  Of course, the Collinson twins were just in the movie to be eye candy to begin with so nobody minded too much that it wasn't them speaking.

Witch Finder In Chief, Uncle Gustav (Peter Cushing)

The Collison twins play twin sisters Maria and Frieda who have recently been orphaned and are shipped off to live with their aunt and uncle in a remote German village.  Unfortunately for them, their uncle Gustav (Peter Cushing) is the local whacked out fundamentalist witch hunter.  (Exactly why a bunch of English Puritans are running around in a Catholic region of Germany is never explained).    Uncle Gustav and his homies like to grab up local women who are rumored to be witches and then burn them at the stake in the middle of the night.  (Well, everybody needs a hobby).

Count Karnstein seduces Frieda

The local hedonistic Satan worshiper is Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas) who lives in the appropriate creepy castle that sits on the mountain overlooking the town.  Count Karnstein gets bored with the usual boring Black Mass and goes all the way and performs a human sacrifice on a peasant girl.  The dripping blood from the altar falls on the grave of Countess Mircalla Karnstein and brings at least her spirit back from the grave.  The Countess (Katya Wyeth) appears and turns her great great great great grandson Count Karnstein into a vampire (which is apparently the family business).

Danien Thomas and Mary and Madeline Collinson share a lighter moment on the set.

Maria (Mary Collinson) is the goody two shoes sister and Frieda (Madeline Collinson) is the wild child.  Maria want to stay home, mind Uncle Gustav, say her prayers and to bed early.   Frieda on the other hand has had enough of Uncle and wants to go party with Count Karnstein.  Frieda sneaks out of the house and goes up to Karnstein castle, where, surprise, surprise, the Count puts the bite on her and turns her into his vampire girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Maria has fallen for the freethinking schoolteacher, Anton.  Uncle Gustav has already threatened Anton that he better keep his atheist opinions to himself and stay away from his nieces. After his own sister gets attacked by a vampire, however, Anton becomes a believer.  Frieda is captured by Uncle Gustav and the Brotherhood.  While they talk about how they are going to put her death (there's a lot of interesting discussion here about how to kill vampires - burning don't work, you got to either cut off their heads or stake 'em through the heart), the Count kidnaps Maria and replaces Frieda in jail.  Just in the nick of time Anton is able to convince Gustav and the Brotherhood that they got the wrong twin.  Now everybody grabs a pitchfork and runs off to storm Karnstein Castle.   Uncle Gustav catches Frieda and beheads her.  In the final confrontation, Count Gustav is killed by the Count but Anton comes to the rescue and gets the Count in the heart with a spear.  Now Anton and Maria can live happily ever after together.

This is a fun classic Hammer Horror movie with a lot of pretty girls running around not wearing much.  With sex, Puritan religious fanatics and vampires how can you go wrong?  Five out of Five Vampire Bats.