The Twins Effect DVD Review:

The Duke (Hardt), one of the most dangerous of the undead, is determined to bring a new age of darkness upon the earth as he hunts the Fifth Prince (Chen) with a vial of blood and the ancient Vampire Bible. But ace vampire slayer Reeve (Cheng) will not rest until the fight is over and with the help of his innocent sister Helen (Choi), a feisty young beauty Gypsy (Chung) and an unlikely hero, they take the fight to the vampires.

Two of Hong Kong’s biggest music stars transfer their talents to the big screen, but these two are not Asia’s answer to Mary-Kate and Ashley. They are Vampire hunting babes.

A cross between Blade and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Twin Effect, named after the girl’s act ‘Twins’, features Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung mixing comedy, drama and martial arts to produce a fun action horror movie. You can’t image US teen singing and acting sensations like Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Lindsay Lohan or Hillary Duff ever choosing an action horror film but to be fair most of us wish would as it would make a refreshing change, but the Twins girls are not afraid and do it exactly right.

More tongue in cheek than pure horror, this is as entertaining as it sounds. We have an instantly dislikeable bad guy, a dashing hero, a misunderstood dark prince, a wannabe hero and someone who accidentally gets dragged along for the ride. The girls themselves are suitably over the top and not afraid to get stuck into the action. Both Charlene and Gillian take to the martial arts like they are seasoned pros. During the climatic face off, the pair excels in the physical roles taking on the vampires with skill and vigour. There characters are quite good as well. Charlene’s Helen is the typical overbearing sister, whose main aim in life is to annoy her brother, even though he is doing an extremely important and heroic job. Gillian Gypsy is the gung-ho, out to impress trainee vampire killer who could be more of a hindrance than a help.

Their supporting cast is also good. Ekin Cheng is the heroic Reeve, vampire hunter and brother to Helen. Unrivalled in battle, Cheng also excels in the fight sequences but is also quite adept in the more comedic interactions with his sister. Edison Chen is Kazaf, the fifth Vampire Prince and the final obstacle in The Duke’s rise to ascension. Chen plays the reluctant vampire very well, mixing the modern with the ancient. Mickey Hardt is suitably over the top as villain The Duke and is quite evil for the tone of the movie. There is also a great extended cameo appearance from legend Jackie Chan who brings his unique skills and humour to the movie.

The computer-generated effects are very good and prove again that technology can do wondrous things, even with a limited budget. The makeup effects are not so good however, with the vampire teeth looking extremely fake.

The Twins Effects is good fun and successfully mixes horror, comedy and martial arts. Both Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung are very likeable and not afraid of getting into the fight. It makes you wish that more Hollywood teen starlets would take more chances like this.

Star Rating = * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is very good. The picture quality is very sharp throughout, even during the more energetic fight scenes. The sound is also good, coming into its own during the martial acts action.

BONUS FEATURES

Behind the Scenes Featurette (16.15 mins)

Co-director Donnie Yen, associate producer Bey Logan and stars Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi, Gillian Chung, Edison Chen and Jackie Chan take you behind the scenes of ‘The Twins Effect’. The cast and crew discuss the characters of the movie and the training they had to go through to prepare for the movie. They then reveal what is was like working with Donnie Yen and the girls from Twins. We also get to see Jackie Chan singing the theme tune with Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung.

Interviews with the cast and crew (55.09 mins)

Co-director Donnie Yen and stars Josie Ho, Charlene Choi, Gillian Chung, Edison Chen and Jackie Chan talk about their involvement in ‘The Twins Effect’, their characters and their thought on the Hong Kong film industry. Highlights include an extended interview with Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen.

Theatrical Trailer 1 (2.00 mins)

Theatrical Trailer 2 (2.04 mins)

Teaser Trailer – International Version (1.21 mins)

Teaser Trailer – Asian Version (1.04 mins)

Your chance to watch the promotional material for ‘The Twins Effect’.

OVERALL

Some foreign movies don’t always tend to get the best DVD packages for their European and US releases but ‘The Twins Effect’ is a slight exception to the rule. The movie is nicely presented with a good set of extras. While a commentary track wouldn’t have gone a miss, especially with Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen involved, the extensive cast and crew interviews more than make up for this, making the movie a good buy for fans and a very good rent for everyone else.

DVD Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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