Okay,
David Cronenberg has made some creepy-ass movies in his career, but there may
not be one as icky as the 1988 Dead Ringers.
Cronenberg’s
horror films seem to always deal with the human body in some grotesque fashion,
whether it be mutant babies being born outside of the womb (The Brood),
heads exploding (Scanners), or a man turning into an insect (The Fly)…
and Dead Ringers fits the bill. It is a movie guaranteed to give women
nightmares, for it’s about insane gynecologists. Identical twins, in fact.
Twin gynecologists with stirrups, strange probing devices, and killer looks.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Dead
Ringers is
somewhat based on a true story about real twin gynecologists, Stewart and Cyril
Marcus, who lived and practiced in New York City in the late 60s and early 70s.
They became addicted to drugs, went a little nuts, and died more or less
together in a posh Manhattan apartment. A 1977 best-selling thriller novel, Twins,
by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, was loosely based on the Marcus boys, and
Cronenberg’s movie takes inspiration from that as well as the lives of the real
sickos (the screenplay is by Cronenberg and Norman Snider).
Jeremy
Irons delivers the performance of a lifetime as the twins, here named Beverly
and Elliot Mantle, and the trick photography employed by cinematographer Peter
Suschitzky and the visual effects team was state of the art at the time, creating
the illusion that Irons is acting with himself, or rather, another person that
is his mirror image. Irons not being nominated for the Best Actor Oscar is one
of the biggest robberies in Academy Award history, although he did win the
honor from both the New York and Chicago Film Critics. Perhaps Academy voters
found the film too disturbing.
It
is.
The
Mantle twins are successful gynecologists who operate a dual practice. Elliot
is the more confident ladykiller, so he often sleeps with his patients. Then
he, ahem, passes the women on to his brother, Beverly, who is rather shy and
less outgoing. Most of the time, they do this without letting the women know what’s
happening. Yes, the #MeToo movement would have had a field day with these guys.
Enter actress Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold), who becomes a patient but is
also addicted to various prescription drugs. Both twins have an affair with
her, and Beverly begins to share the drugs. This leads to delusions and
paranoia, and some of the nightmarish imagery that director Cronenberg presents
are enough to send audience members—female and male—to the lavatory. Of course,
things don’t go well for the Mantles, and it’s a downhill slide from there into
typical Cronenberg tragedy.
Dead
Ringers is
a brilliant discourse of addiction, chauvinism, and madness, and it is arguably
among Cronenberg’s best works. Irons’ performance is a wonder, and the nightmarish
effects and psychological attacks on the audience easily elevate the film to a
slot on “Greatest Horror Films of All Time.†It’s that good.
Shout
Factory’s Blu-ray release is a 2-disk set. The first disk presents the film in
the aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It looks sharp, crystal clear, and so hi-def that
one might think it’s 4K (it’s not). Oddly, Shout decided to give us another
version on the second disk, this time a 2K scan in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1,
which, when all is said and done, isn’t much different from the other version.
The marketing copy on the package claims this is Cronenberg’s preferred aspect
ratio, but there is some discussion among other DVD/Blu-ray reviewers online
that questions that statement. To these eyes, the second version looks slightly
better, perhaps more in line with the appearance of film.
The
first version comes with two audio commentaries: a previously released one with
actor Irons, and a new one with William Beard, author of The Artist as
Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg. The second version has no audio
commentaries.
Supplements
include new interviews with actor/artist Stephen Lack (who also starred in Scanners);
actress Heidi von Palleske, who plays one of the Mantle twins’ conquests; DOP
Suschitzky; and special effects artist Gordon Smith. There are also vintage
interviews and featurettes (of poorer video quality) from 1988, and the
theatrical trailer.
Dead
Ringers is
highly recommended for horror film fans, Cronenberg enthusiasts, and for
devotees of good acting—the picture is worth a viewing for Jeremy Irons alone.
