VHS : Dead Ringers [1989]

Rating: - One Of Jeremy Iron's Finest Performances.
One Of Jeremy Iron's Finest Performances (in my humble opinion and though so very different, it must rate along with that of Claus Von Bulow in Reversal Of Fortune). While not a Cronenberg devotee per se, I suppose I must admit without apology to being one of Jeremy Irons. It all started with Brideshead Revisited.............

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Rating: - Cronenberg fans will be disappointed by few visceral shocks
Dead Ringers lacks a sustained sense of horror and fascination with the body that is apparent in many other Cronenberg films. Certainly there are visceral shocks, but they are few and far between. Cronenberg has instead gone for characterisation, which is by no means a bad thing. This tale of twin brothers linked by psychical/spiritual/supernatural means is made more sinister by the fact they are both gynaecologists. This provides Cronenberg with a means to splatter his scenes with a bit of claret now and again. But it also injects the idea of physical subversion into the film; for instance, his characters talk about beauty being on the inside - not in the conventional sense - but as in how beautiful our organs actually are. It is almost as if our ovaries or fallopian tubes or wombs should be displayed on the outside of our bodies, such is their beauty. There is also a theme of body invasion, even rape, that also threads a dark strand through this film. As one brother falls in love with a drug-addicted actress and begins to fall foul of the drugs himself, the other can only watch in pity as he self-destructs. But these brothers are linked and whatever happens to one, must happen to the other, at least that is what the twins believe. Thus the remaining sober twin soon ends up a drug-addict as well and they both degenerate until the inevitable happens in a nasty, but restrained conclusion that almost satisfies. This is a downbeat film with few laughs, but it does throw up some interesting themes. The casting of Jeremy Irons as both twins, Beverly and Elliot Mantle, is inspired as their gaunt and haunted faces seem to reflect perfectly their strange obsessions. Unfortunately, Geneveve Bujold is poor and seems to overact quite remerkably, giving the film a kind of B-movie and cheap feel, when it could have been an even slicker horror. Full marks must also go the set and costume designers as the stark red surgeon's gowns contrast with the sterile blue walls of the operating theatre to provide us with the bloody, visceral feel that is lacking elsewhere. Well worth a look. But non-Cronenberg fans be warned; it is pretty strange.