Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Any viewer has to remember that this is a Hammer film and the year of production is 1971. This was racy sexy vampire libido turn-on drive- in movie stuff at the time. Certainly a great drive-in flick for a few beers and hopefully a hot date with fantasy in her mind. However....by any decades standards...what starts out as a really good horror film gets silly at the end. Still...as far as eye candy goes...this film rates a 10 for lots of babes and studly hero. No literally dirty girls here...only very figuratively dirty. Others have already noted the bevy of Hammer beauties in this film and it does not disappoint!At least one other has noted that the film also shows modern society in respect to the paranoia factor of certain factions of society. The Peter Cushing Brotherhood reminded me of Global Warming nuts while watching the film. "We must burn at the stake anyone who disagrees with us!" A better script would have served this film well and a remake could probably do quite well with a meatier script. In the end it gets silly. Count Karnstein tells his Vampire hottie that Peter Cushing and his Brotherhood can come burn them and they will laugh at the Brotherhood because there bodies will die but their souls will find another body to inhabit (these vampires can only be killed by beheading or by a stake through the heart). Undoubtedly there is a bevy of beautiful bodies waiting to be taken over.DOH! The Count is informed by his servant that they are are bringing axes! And...Sharp implements too! DOH! So now they are trapped and killed because they are that stupid!!???Now THAT is just plain silly!If you like vampire flicks....before vampires all became comic book superhero vampires...then you will be entertained. If you have a hot babe you know with a bent for this sort of flick then by all means check it out with her. They will enjoy the visual and they will also enjoy the silliness...and with some wine or the like it probably will work real well to bring out her Twin of Evil! ;)

TWINS OF EVIL is the third and final of Hammer's Karnstein trilogy and it has the most interesting storyline of all three. That's because the film combines two successful sub-genres of horror, the witch-burning film and the vampire movie. The two subjects don't necessarily go hand in hand so it's remarkable at just how successfully they combine here.The movie is headlined by Peter Cushing in one of his most villainous performances as a witch hunter who'd give Matthew Hopkins a run for his money. Cushing spends half the movie burning innocent girls alive and the other half being a general fiend and antagonist, and what's really special is that Cushing still finds the spark of humanity deep within his character. You hate him, but a small part of you admires him despite his actions.The Karnstein plodding is familiar stuff, with Damien Thomas an acceptable if unremarkable villain; the stuff with the twins, Mary and Madeleine Collinson, is less interesting (they weren't cast for their acting talents, after all) but they don't have an overwhelming amount of screen time. David Warbeck has a nice role as a youthful hero. As usual, TWINS OF EVIL wins out thanks to the sumptuous production values, even at this late stage of the Hammer game; the film is a visual treat of cobwebby castles, ruined graveyards, and haunted crypts, contrasting with the general bucolic charm of the period.

TWINS OF EVIL boasts two of Hammer's greatest assets (who each boast an impressive set of assets), as well as Peter Cushing as their repressed witch-hunting uncle. Although his charges (orphans, we're told) are both prone to walking around in what amount to little more than nightgowns, uncle Gustav spends most of his time scouring the countryside for "loose" women to burn at the stake. The implication that he's sexually repressed and is taking his pent-up frustrations out on the local vixens is obvious. For Hammer Film fans, TWINS OF EVIL also shows us how the infamous Count Karnstein crossed over to the Other Side: he's bitten by the comely Carmilla- called "Mircalla," here. The lovelies who play the twins are both good actresses, which goes along way toward making TWINS OF EVIL one of Hammer's best.

The last of Hammer's Karnstein trilogy, based loosely on the 19th Century Sheridan Le Fanu novel "Carmilla", TWINS OF EVIL followed THE VAMPIRE LOVERS and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, both of which were released in 1970. Noted primarily for the appearance of Mary and Madeleine Collinson, 19-year old twins (and former Playboy Playmates, having appeared together in the October, 1970 Centerfold…) this movie is really so much more than just a vehicle for two lovely young women with dubious acting talent.Twin girls, Frieda and Maria, have recently lost their parents, and are sent to live with their uncle Gustav, (played to perfection by the always-great Peter Cushing…) the head of a sect of witch-hunters called 'The Brotherhood.' Gustav is embroiled in conflict with the local Baron, a descendant of the original Mircalla Karnstein, the Vampiress. Soon, Karnstein decides that his usual debaucheries have grown wearisome. He sacrifices a virgin to Satan, and is visited by the ghost of Mircalla, who transforms him into a Vampire. He turns his attentions to the beautiful nieces of his hated enemy, intending to corrupt the girls.While I can't deny that the Collinson twins are the best thing about this film, Cushing's performance as the Witchfinder is certainly a close second. Contrasted with Vincent Price's over-the-top portrayal of Matthew Hopkins in THE CONQUEROR WORM, Cushing plays Gustav as a real, three-dimensional character. Yes, he does horrible things… but he feels that they are necessary, and sanctioned by God. He's not a sadist, but a zealot. The differences in the two may be minute, but Cushing gets the most out of them.This one's probably not for everyone, certainly not the young. But fans of Hammer, and especially of Peter Cushing, need to see this one.