The Gruesome Twosome (1967)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Allison Louise Downe (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The most barbaric humor since the guillotine went out of style!

Plot:

A demented, elderly woman has her mentally retarded son kill and scalp various young women to use their hair for her wig shop while a persistent coed tries to link various killings on a local Florida college campus to them.

Plot Keywords:

Wig | Scalping | Wig Store | Scream | Satire

Cast

Elizabeth Davis	...	Mrs. Pringle
Gretchen Wells	...	Kathy Baker
Chris Martell	...	Rodney Pringle
Rodney Bedell	...	Dave Hall
Ronnie Cass	...	Nancy Harris
Karl Stoeber	...	Mr. Spinsen
Dianne Wilhite	...	Janet
Andrea Barr	...	Susan
Dianne Raymond	...	Dawn Farrell
Sherry Robinson	...	Lisa
Barrie Walton	...	Neighbor Lady
Marcelle Bichette	...	Jane
Tom Brent	...	Neighbor Man
Mike Todd	...	Mike
C.A. Dukes

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:Unrated | Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: All the murders look incredibly fake. With obvious makeup showing and girls still blinking/breathing when they are supposed to be dead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Film House Fever (1986)

not Lewis's best but still fun

This is not one of Lewis's better films but still is kind of fun, in a campy 60's kind of way. Groovy music, babes twisting on the beach to not-very-good guitar sounds and babes twisting in the dorm room while eating Kentucky Fried Chicken, an old man that buries soup bones for his dog and a young woman that thinks she's Nancy Drew and is going to figure out where all these girls keep disappearing to from the college campus. Part of the problem is this little wig shop, which I think is called "The Little Wig Shop". It's run by this nice old lady called Mrs. Pringle (who is completely bonkers) and she has a stuffed wildcat named Napolean that she talks to all the time and an insane son, Rodney, that she keeps locked in the store room for whenever she needs wig material. And all she needs to get wig material, what with the college campus being nearby, is put out a sign: "Room for rent". I bet you can figure the rest out from there. There are some delightful scenes as young ladies part with their locks and tresses (and scalps). The problem though is that there's a great deal of "filler" in this movie, and while I didn't mind it so much because of the groovy music, if you're not much of an HG Lewis fan you may grow bored in between blood lettings. I think HG Lewis may be an acquired taste so if you're not a fan you may want to think twice before you start with THIS one, try Blood Feast first and if you like that go from there. 7 out of 10.