Discover your dark doppelgänger in a fiendish late night double-bill of David Cronenberg’s lurid DEAD RINGERS (1988) followed by John Hough’s lustful Hammer horror, TWINS OF EVIL (1971).

DEAD RINGERS (1988 / Canada / 116mins)

• Director: David Cronenberg
• Cast: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon
• Twin gynaecologists exploit the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.

TWINS OF EVIL (1971 / UK / 87mins)

• Director: John Hough
• Cast: Peter Cushing, Mary Collinson, Madeleine Collinson, Damien Thomas
• After a vampire’s bite, will the puritanical Brotherhood burn the right twin at the stake?

Video Bazaar and Queer Horror Nights weren’t separated at birth, but they are collaborating to present two contrasting examinations of identical twins in (queer) horror cinema.

In David Cronenberg’s DEAD RINGERS, Jeremy Irons plays twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle, struggling with the destructive forces that arise from their separation. John Hough’s TWINS OF EVIL (aka ‘Twins of Dracula’) is much more of a 17th Century period-costume romp, casting real-life twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson as siblings with passionately contrasting desires.

Video Bazaar’s view: “DEAD RINGERS delves into the psychological and physical horrors that arise from the twins’ inseparable bond, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare. Through its visceral imagery and psychological depth, DEAD RINGERS confronts audiences with unsettling questions about the nature of identity, erotic desire and the boundaries of the human form.”

Queer Horror Nights’ view: “Queer experience dismantles gender binaries, but the potent forces of hetero– and homo–normativity can impose a sense of duality, where we have to pass between different states of openness. TWINS OF EVIL is a decadent illustration of how horror cinema’s obsession with twins exposes and exploits the destructive consequences of repression and suppression.”

Book for each film separately or take a deep dive with the double-bill, and save 5 pounds (add both films to your basket before purchasing and the discount will be applied automatically).

DEAD RINGERS will be screened first, followed by TWINS OF EVIL. Both films will begin with an introduction from Video Bazaar and Queer Horror Nights. The Garden Cinema bar will close after the start of TWINS OF EVIL.

@videobazaarpresents is a cult film club showcasing the weird and the obscure in venues across London. #QueerHorrorNights is an ongoing collaboration between @tokenhomo & @lastframeclub staging irregular film screenings at venues across London.