Dead Ringers is a creepy, semi-erotic and pretty unsettling little psychological horror film.
The film stars Jeremy Irons in dual roles as twin gynecologists Elliott and Beverly (yes) Mantle, a couple of sociopathic Toronto natives who each pursue lust with a pill-popping French actress (Genevieve Bujold) and chase each other into drug addiction and madness.
The film was directed by David Cronenberg, the reigning master of all things skin-burrowing. Cronenberg’s work here is neither as nasty as his early efforts (The Brood, Shivers) nor as watchably disturbing as The Dead Zone, Videodrome, etc.
Adapted from a novel called Twins, co-written by Bari Wood (the author of Doll’s Eyes), the film moves at a snail’s pace through macabre visuals, and nothing on screen (in plot or otherwise) is nearly as interesting as the mesmerizing Irons. His “twin” performances are the sole reasons to see this film.