A Hammer Duo: Twins of Evil and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell

Neither Collinson twin looks evil here.

In 1970, Hammer Films launched the Karnstein trilogy, which was loosely based on Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella Carmilla about a female vampire. The first two movies, The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Lust for a Vampire (1971), were modestly successful efforts chiefly remembered for injecting nudity and a lesbian theme into Hammer's vampire movie formula. However, the third and final entry, Twins of Evil (1971), remains an above-average Gothic outing with good performances and a well-constructed plot.

Real-life twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson plays teenage sisters Maria and Frieda, who come to live with their Uncle Gustav (Peter Cushing) following the death of their parents. Gustav is a religious zealot whose followers burn young women suspected of being witches. Despite the presence of their kindly aunt (Kathleen Byron), Maria and Frieda have a difficult time adapting to their new almost-Puritan lifestyle.

Frieda becomes interested in Count Karnstein, who defies Gustav with his hedonistic activities. When Karnstein sells his soul for eternal life as a vampire, he finds that Frieda is most willing to join him. However, complications are bound to ensue when there are twin sisters...one good and one evil!

Peter Cushing as Gustav.

The always reliable Peter Cushing doesn't play a heroic role this time around. Gustav kills innocent women in a subplot reminiscent of the earlier Witchfinder General (1968) with Vincent Price. Ultimately, Gustav works with Maria's boyfriend Anton to stop Karnstein, but that doesn't absolve him from his earlier acts of horror. It's a complex character and Cushing is fully up to the task.

Considering that their voices were dubbed, the Collinson twins give respectable performances. Madeleine somehow manages to look evil (and for that reason, I had no problem telling the sisters apart). The sisters famously became the first Playmate twins in Playboy. Alas, Twins of Evil was the highlight of their acting career.

Director John Hough directs with a sure hand, pacing the story well and maintaining the expected Hammer atmosphere (using the same set as Vampire Circus). An added bonus is the chance to see Kathleen Byron, an under-used actress who was brilliant in Black Narcissus and Night of the Eagle.

Cushing as Victor Frankenstein.

Three years after Twins of Evil, Peter Cushing reprised his role as Dr. Victor Frankenstein for the six and last time. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) reunited the actor with director Terence Fisher, who helmed all of Cushing's previous Frankenstein outings.

The film's opening scenes focus on handsome surgeon Simon Helder (Shane Briant), who has been studying Frankenstein's experiments. Unfortunately, his grave-robbing endeavors get him arrested and sentenced to an insane asylum for five years. The good news is that the institution's resident physician, Dr. Victor, turns out to be none other than Baron Frankenstein!

Frankenstein wants to transplant the brain of a genius into the body of an almost Neanderthal man. His work, though, has been constrained by his crippled hands. Helder eagerly agrees to perform the operation under Frankenstein's instruction. Of course, to get a genius's brain, Victor might have to resort to murder.

Prowse as the ape-like Monster.

There's not much of a plot to Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. The brain transplant idea was explored much better in the previous--and much superior--Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). Heck, Victor was transplanting brains as far back as The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). The only novel ideas in Monster from Hell are the fanatical Frankenstein working in an insane asylum and the almost humorous ending. The latter, by the way, may be why some critics consider this film to be a black comedy.

Cushing is the sole reason to watch Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. Hammer apparently wanted to make Briant into a star, but he clearly lacks the charisma to anchor a film on his own. As the monster, Dave Prowse (who would later embody Darth Vader) is limited by a mask that restricts facial movement. It's easily the worst-looking monster that Hammer put on screen in its long history.