The Gruesome Twosome (1967)

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.

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Allison Louise Downe (original screenplay) (as Louise Downe)

Stars:

Elizabeth Davis, Gretchen Wells, Chris Martell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Mrs. Pringle and her son Rodney run a wig store which they stock by scalping young coeds who show up to look at the "room for rent." Meanwhile at the local college, Kathy is determined to figure out who is killing her classmates, much to boyfriend Dave's irritation. When her friend Dawn disappears, Kathy gets closer to the truth as she begins investigating the Pringle's lair.

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Plot Keywords:

splatter comedy | serial murder | psychotronic film | wig | wig store | 

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Taglines:

Won't you come into my parlor? I want you to meet THE GRUESOME TWOSOME

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1967 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Cameo: Herschell Gordon Lewis's voice can be heard over the radio, interrupting with news of the murders.

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Goofs

When Mrs. Pringle pushes victims into Rodney's room the door to the room opens out toward her wig shop, however, when seen from inside the door opens in toward Rodney's room.

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Connections

Featured in American Grindhouse (2010)

User Reviews

Gruesome alright, but really ridiculous also

The Gruesome Twosome is a lot like any other Herschell Gordon Lewis film in that it features a ridiculous plot line, a plethora of useless performances, buckets of gore and some real nasty sequences. As usual, the director sets out his plot and it doesn't go anywhere from there. There aren't any twists in this film and what you see is very much what you get. While this simple formula is fun, it is rather monotonous also; and if you've seen a few other HG movies prior to seeing this one (as I had), it's safe to say that there isn't all that much here. The film kicks off with a suitably demented scene that sees two head models with wigs having a conversation with each other. From there, we learn that a wig maker's shop is getting its realistic hair straight from women's heads, as the old woman who runs the shop employs her retarded son to scalp the young women who comes looking to move into the abandoned apartment next door. The piece is made more ridiculous by the way that the old lady talks to Napoleon; who just happens to be a big stuffed cat!

I'm never really sure if HG Lewis movies are meant to be bad, or if the director is just grossly talentless. The acting is so bad that it's arguably not even acting; between speaking parts, some of the actors are visibly laughing - I don't know if the whole thing is meant to be a joke. The film only lasts for the seventy or so minutes, and so you'd expect that even a plot as basic as this one would be able to be stretched; but the Godfather of Gore obviously didn't know what to do with it, meaning that way over half of the film is made up of useless scenes that add nothing to the plot and serve only in making the whole piece more weird. HG movies have a sort of otherworldly feel about them stemming from the fact that they are so inept; nobody in real life acts like the people in HG movies do, and this movie adheres to that styling. The characters are non-existent and the way they react to the local murders is purely stupid. The murder scenes themselves are grisly as usual, but as is the case with everything else in this film; they're impossible to take seriously. Overall, this really is a terrible movie; but there's something about HG movies that make them better than most trash, and while I won't argue with bad words against this film; I did enjoy watching it.