Twins of Evil

Peter Cushing - Gustav Weil
Dennis Price - Dietrich
Mary Collinson - Maria Gellhorn
Madeleine Collinson - Frieda Gellhorn
Isobel Black - Ingrid Hoffer
Kathleen Byron - Katy Weil
Damien Thomas - Count Karnstein
David Warbeck - Anton Hoffer
Harvey Hall - Franz
Katya Wyeth - Countess Mircalla
Alex Scott - Hermann
Judy Matheson - Woodman's Daughter

The final instalment of the Karnstein trilogy, along with The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil had an unusually strong script, developing violent opposition between hunters and hunted, making this atmospheric film a more than usually impressive addition to the Hammer output. As was the vogue with many early 70’s horror films, sex appeal was an added ingredient to the gore, in this case it is supplemented by the inclusion of twin Playboy centrefolds Madeleine and Mary Collinson.

Beginning with the reincarnation of Countess Mircalla Karnstein (Katya Keith), restored to life in the family castle during a satanic ritual staged by depraved Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), initiating him into the delights of vampirism and setting off a whole spate of bitings. Gustav Weil (Peter Cushing) leads the opposition as the head of a witch-hunting group of Puritans called the brotherhood. The obsessed Weil has two identical nieces visiting him; the puritanical uncle beheads one, Frieda (Madeleine Collinson), after she has become a vampire due to meeting the Count, and her innocent sister Maria (Mary Collinson) is almost burned at the stake due to an error in identification. The grim witch-hunter himself finally succumbs to an axe in the back.