Twins of Evil (1972)

What I was quite entertained by in regards to Hammer Studios’ finale in the Karnstein Trilogy is that Cushing, often the premier vampire hunter, is actually a misguided witch hunter and leader of a Salem Witch Trial type Brotherhood who is ignorant and uneducated in vampirism and how to stop a vampire! And the film offered Cushing a multi-faceted character, not so one-sided in his motives like Price in “Witchfinder General” or Lom in “Mark of the Devil”; Cushing’s Gustav Weil truly believed that what he was doing was right, even though the women he and the Brotherhood burned at the stake weren’t actually witches. David Warbeck, as boar hunter (with a spear, a skill he applies to successful effect at the end of the film), pianist (and composer), and music teacher (his sister, played by Isobel Black, runs a school for young ladies), serves as Gustav’s educator and fiercest critic…Warbeck’s Anton holds Gustav’s witch hunting methods (and those chosen to be burned) contemptible. The “Twins of Evil” of the title isn’t wholly accurate: only one of the Gellhorn twins is truly evil (Madeleine Collinson’s Frieda delights in rebelling against her Uncle Gustav’s pious, closely held and avidly preached beliefs, while Mary Collinson’s Maria has a wholesome heart and true belief in God). The main antagonist of the film, Damien Thomas’ Count Karnstein, worshiping Satan in his mountainous castle above the village and wilderness, is Gustav’s main nemesis, defiant against the Church and Brotherhood because he’s protected by the Emperor governing the country. Gustav wants to staunchly upbring his nieces with the belt and stern command while his wife, Katy (Kathleen Byron), tries to protect them from any severe punishment as best she could. Count Karnstein, bored of the faux Satan worship and “ceremonial performance” provided by his “wrangler”, Dietrich (Dennis Price; numerous Jess Franco films in the late 60s and early 70s, and “Kind Hearts and Coronets”), actually stabs a peasant girl laid out on a slab, the victim’s blood draining into the crypt and on the body of the Countess Mircalla, reawakening her. Mircalla bites the Count, turning him vampire. Eventually Frieda sets sights on the Count, the two eventually an item, while Mircalla vanishes from the film…she seemed included in this trilogy just as a cameo appearance, to bite the Count and fool around a bit. I thought that was an interesting decision, to give Mircalla just enough time in the film to sort of tie “Twins of Evil” (1972) with “The Vampire Lovers” and “Lust for the Vampire”…she leaves an impression, even if it was brief. Cushing, as Gustav, shows this wrestling with his deeply devoted belief system and what he considers a duty (the burnings), ultimately given a chance to actually do some good by going after Karnstein (and Frieda), needing guidance even by Anton. When Katy takes Gustav to task for punishing Maria when Frieda was the wild child, and Anton later confronting him as he was about to burn Maria after the Count “switches” her with the imprisoned Frieda, you see Cushing debating and at odds…the character had some meat on the bones, allowing Cushing to be more than just this sadist hiding behind a disguise or cloak of Religion, taking money (or sex) in “service of the Lord”. The burnings are carefully staged to not dwell on burning flesh as much as having us understand that while these women scream for help the flames (and the Brotherhood responsible) show no mercy. Thomas as Karnstein is fiendish, reveling in sin and excess, enjoying the vampirism that allows him to be predator, while unrestrained in how he behaves himself…the antithesis on Gustav’s devotion to God, Karnstein swears allegiance to the Devil. And the film doesn’t give Gustav the Van Helsing hero treatment; when the inevitable confrontation does happen, Karnstein avoids an ax throw, using it to impale Gustav, hurling the witch hunter off a stairwell to his death. It takes a sharply thrown spear to upend Karnstein’s reign of terror. Gustav does get to finish off a vampire with a gnarly decapitation. For extra gore, Hammer features a servant of Karnstein (Roy Stewart), mute and totally the Count’s muscle, obedient and loyal, burning a member of the Brotherhood in the face with a torch, while dropping an ax in the head of another before receiving a stake to the torso himself. While I do wish Mircalla was featured more, I get that this is about the Collinsons, a showcase for them specifically. Madeleine, as the lusty, fetching, feisty Frieda, gets to have more fun than sister, Mary, who cries every night at candlelight wondering when her sister would be home while fearful of Gustav’s punishment. Warbeck, too, shows the struggle of not getting involved in the Brotherhood’s witch hunting and burning, challenged by how to confront Gustav and the Church over this behavior and religious fanaticism. This is a first-rate Hammer vampire film, a real gem. While the Lee Dracula series often got a lot of shine, there are some vampire films in the Hammer canon that deserve another look. 4/5