Dead Ringers (1988)

Too much of everything

Perfectly adorable

not horrible nor great

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Jeremy Irons plays the dual roles of Beverly / "Bev" and Elliot / "Ellie" Mantle in this unnerving, depressing tale of the incredible bond between two identical twin brothers. They run a fertility clinic, and up to now, they've had some enjoyment with the fact that people can't tell them apart. However, when the more confident Elliot passes on his newest girlfriend, Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold), to his weaker, more sensitive sibling Beverly, it leads to the beginning of big trouble for both of them.As is often the case with a David Cronenberg film, here you get something interesting and intellectual. Something also off-putting (to some people, anyway), but fascinating. Despite its slow pace, it really draws you into this offbeat story (based on the book "Twins" by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, itself inspired by a *true* story!). True enough that it has a somewhat detached, clinical feel to it, but thanks to the masterful acting by Irons, and the appealing work by Bujold, you do get involved with these characters. Irons does a wonderful job of playing two men with differing personalities. This is aided by typically slick movie trickery (split screen, body doubles) that help one actor to convincingly portray twin characters on screen.Cronenberg and his regular collaborators, like editor Ronald Sanders and cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, are like a well-oiled machine; it's cool that he's developed these partnerships over the years. Howard Shore, always a composer who can bring a very grandiose and ominous quality to movie music, does a typically fine job here.Although a number of the horrors here are psychological (and psycho sexual), Cronenberg still has the idea of "body horror" on the brain, and there are some fun gory moments. Those surgical instruments that the unstable Beverly designs for supposed "mutant women" are very amusing in a hideous, twisted way.Not exactly a "feel good movie", but fans of the director will find a fair bit to enjoy here.Future 'Law and Order' actress Jill Hennessy makes her film debut, appearing alongside HER real life twin sister Jacqueline.Eight out of 10.

From body horror master David Cronenberg comes this eerie tale of twin brothers who work as gynecologists and share women. When one patient begins a relationship with one of the brothers, the downward spiral of twins Eliot and Beverly takes us down the rabbit hole along with them.This film owes the majority of its intrigue to the dual performance of Jeremy Irons as Eliot and Beverly Mantle. Irons' take on the twins as complete opposites is beyond breathtaking; Eliot is confident, a player and arrogant while Beverly is shy, passive and a pawn for his brother. We are as seduced by the brothers as Genevieve Bujold's Claire is due to the confusion of which twin Jeremy Irons is playing at the exact moment. I even lost track of which twin was on camera when Irons appears alone.The catalyst for the film's tragic story is the reserved portrayal of Claire by the lovely Genevieve Bujold. At the film's start she is simply a patient of the twins who comes for a medical concern. However when she is seduced by the charming Eliot and passed onto the passive Beverly, the spiral is set for tragedy as she and Beverly grow closer. Claire is no fool when she confronts the twins to find out which one has just been using her and which brother she actually care for. But when her hidden drug habit is revealed to Beverly, the point of no return is reached as she pulls Beverly into the web of addiction. The body horror is more psychological in this film than Cronenberg's usual body of work. He relies more on fooling the viewer with the Mantle twins's deception of swapping places and when Beverly becomes a drug addict, his hallucinatory state provides the horror of a disturbed mind. The narrative ultimately ends in one of the more disturbing death scenes in Cronenberg's films, tugging a little at the heartstrings of more sentimental viewers. An unhappy conclusion is guaranteed for a Cronenberg film.

A powerful and disturbing psychological horror film from prolific director David Cronenberg. Unlike Cronenberg's earlier, more straightforward visceral offerings - such as THE FLY and SCANNERS (incidentally, the star of SCANNERS, Stephen Lack, makes an unwelcome cameo appearance), DEAD RINGERS plays it slowly, taking time to create realistic characters (thanks to some superb acting on behalf of the leads) and building up a horrifying story. This film really makes an impression on you and is chilling to the extreme. Jeremy Irons gives what I believe to be one of his finest performances in the dual roles of the twin brothers, conveying sadness, disgust, and insanity like no other. That he also convinces you that he's two separate people is a mark of class.Rather than in-your-face gore and stark terror (of which you might have come to expect from Cronenberg's earlier '80s offerings), there is an unsettling and disturbing story built up here of the two twins, and Jeremy Irons is simply magnificent in his role. Why he didn't win any awards for it I will never know. The viewer really feels for the two doomed brothers and there are lots and lots of disturbing, mind-rending scenes included in the film, most of them involving the perversely shaped instruments that Irons has constructed in a fit of madness - yet another mark of Cronenberg's twisted "body horror".It's a difficult for me to review because in order to understand it, you have to see it. I can't really describe the impact it has because of the psychological nature of the thing; it's all very well reviewing cheap made-for-video trash but actual classics like this are a much harder nut to crack. All I can say is that it's an excellent film and provokes many disturbing images in your mind. It's not an easy film to watch either, there were moments where I felt like turning the video off due to the horror on show and the fact that the bastard Cronenberg makes us CARE for the people as he tortures them inside and out. There is little more that I can say, apart from if you want real, numbing horror then seek out this film as opposed to the latest Freddy or Jason offering which were doing the rounds at the time this was made. You'll never forget DEAD RINGERS, and in spite of sounding melodramatic, it may will haunt you and give you sleepless nights (it disturbed me, that's for sure)!

This movie is about two identical twins named "Elliott Mantle" and his brother "Beverly Mantle" (both played by Jeremy Irons) who have shared an interest in medicine all of their lives. But that's not all they share as the slightly older twin, Elliott, is less shy and typically initiates a sexual relationship with a woman and then when he gets tired of her passes her off to Beverly who takes it from there. Although this has worked like a charm for years, one day Elliott just so happens to hand a woman named "Claire Niveau" (Genevieve Bujold) to Beverly who then falls deeply in love with her. To make matters worse, when Claire finds out what has happened she gets angry with both brothers which throws Beverly into an emotional tailspin that results in dramatic consequences for everyone involved. Now from what I understand this movie has apparently garnered both critical and popular approval. That's fine. However, rather than following the proverbial crowd I happen to demur from the overall consensus as I found this movie to be a bit too dark and dreary for my tastes. Admittedly, Jeremy Irons performed in an excellent manner and he deserves whatever praise is offered. But even so I still thought the movie was too slow and boring and as a result I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.