Chip Kaufmann’s Pick:

Twins of Evil (1971)

Now that the three missing Hammer Films titles from the early 1970s have finally arrived on Blu-Ray/DVD (see related article in this issue), I have chosen one of them, Twins of Evil, as my October pick. After all a movie about vampires makes for ideal Halloween viewing and in this instance the protagonists are real life twins.

Mary & Madeleine Collinson graced the October 1970 issue of Playboy magazine where their talents and their wealth (their assets are noteworthy) made quite an impression. Although forgotten today, it was a big deal at the time and it led to a brief career in the movies ending with their largest roles in 1971’s Twins of Evil.

By 1971 things were really changing over at Hammer. The creative forces behind most of their big successes were no longer involved for a variety of reasons and so the company turned to independent producers and directors to help provide them with new material. One of these producers was Fantale Films who had scored a big hit for Hammer with the previous year’s The Vampire Lovers. This led to a so-so sequel Lust for a Vampire and then this film.

All 3 films had a literary pedigree, 19th century Irish writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella Carmilla about the adventures of a lesbian vampire which predated Dracula by 25 years. As is usually the case with sequels to sequels, Twins bore the least resemblance to the source material telling the story of twin sisters (one good, the other bad) who go to live with their puritanical uncle (Peter Cushing) and their involvement with a decadent nobleman.

The success of Vincent Price’s film Witchfinder General 3 years earlier led scriptwriter Tudor Gates (yes, that’s his real name) to add witch hunting scenes to the vampire plot. The film was directed by John Hough who later did Escape from Witch Mountain for Walt Disney. It’s beautifully photographed, sumptuously scored, and is also well acted by everyone (including the twins) with Cushing a standout in an unsympathetic role.

Although tame by today’s standards, Twins really delivers the S&S (Sex & Sadism) goods in true 1970’s fashion. Violent, erotic, and atmospheric, what more could you want from a horror film and in Blu-Ray it looks stunning.

 

 

Michelle Keenan’s Pick:

Rear Window (1954)

With Halloween just around the corner I considered more pointedly ghoulish and ghostly fare for my DVD pick this month, but somehow I kept going back to Hitchcock. We’ve been on a bit of a Hitchcock kick at my house of late, most recently enjoying Rear Window.

Hitchcock called Rear Window his ‘ultimate Peeping Tom story.’ Jimmy Stewart plays Jeff Jeffries, a photo journalist with a penchant for live on the road and high adventure. Sidelined by a badly broken leg, Jeff finds himself wheelchair and homebound bound, holed up in his small Greenwich Village apartment. His only source of entertainment is spying on his neighbors through a courtyard facing window. Hidden behind the safety of his telephoto lens he becomes intimately acquainted his neighbors and the rhythms of the apartment building.

The only two visitors to his apartment are his masseuse, Stella (Thelma Ritter) and his sort-of girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly). Lisa is the typical Hitchcock beauty – an elegant, cool blond. She’s a fashion model and NY socialite. She’s crazy about Jeff, but the feeling isn’t reciprocated. It seems Jeff uses his camera to hide from a lot things, including commitment.

Soon Jeff transitions from voyeur to detective when becomes convinced that the one of his neighbors (Raymond Burr) has murdered — and possibly dismembered — his wife. As Stella and Lisa are won over to his theory, they become the legs of his investigation and the suspense builds.

Almost every frame of the film is told from the point of view from the rear window of Jeff’s apartment. What Jeff sees we see. What Jeff suspects, we suspect. The concept is extremely simple and its execution is brilliant. Part of that brilliance is the set. In designing the apartment building and courtyard on the soundstage, Hitchcock had seven actual apartments built, equipped with running water and electricity, and fully furnished, creating an even more voyeuristic experience for Jeff and the viewer.

Last but not least, the snappy dialogue is quite fun but easy to overlook; my advice is to take another look (or for some a first look) at Rear Window. They don’t make ‘em like this any more.