FilmRBody Horror Psychological Gothic

Dead Ringers1988

Name: Dead Ringers
Genre: Body Horror, Psychological, Gothic
Released: 1988-09-23
Rating: 7.4

“Two bodies. Two minds. One soul.”

Directed by David Cronenberg

7.4

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 7.2Rotten Tomatoes 86%Metacritic 86TMDB 7.1

✍ Review

On the charts

#1·Top Horror Movies of 1988 #15·Top Body Horror Films #15·Top Horror Movies of the 1980s

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Year

1988

Runtime

115 min

Box Office

Budget

$13,000,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$8,038,508

Domestic

$8,038,508

🏆 20 wins & 14 nominations total

The premise

Elliot, a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly. Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire, but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness.

Horror Vault's take

Twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle have built a privileged medical career on a foundation of intertwined identities and shared secrets — including sharing their lovers without disclosure. When Beverly becomes dangerously attached to a patient named Claire, the carefully maintained balance between the brothers begins to fracture in deeply disturbing ways. David Cronenberg crafts a clinical yet viscerally unsettling descent into dependency, madness, and the horror of a self that cannot exist alone. Jeremy Irons delivers a tour-de-force dual performance that anchors one of the most psychologically complex horror films of its era.

Content: Body Horror Imagery, Drug Use, Sexual Content, Sadomasochistic Themes, Disturbing Medical Imagery, Psychological Distress