Bob and Terry Spelling are identical twins but with a fundamental and deadly difference - Bob is a successful architect; Terry is a psychopathic killer confined in an institution for the insane. Terry manages to escape by overpowering staff and impersonating the prison doctor and then and goes on a killing spree, mainly of women who he considers "perfect" and with whom any relationship to his twisted mind can only go into decline. He takes advantage of his exact likeness to Bob and this puts Bob's friends and contacts in particular danger including American fashion designer Patty Heron who he has just met...
Review
This was one of the earlier episodes I saw when it was included in the Bravo repeats in 1996. It disappointed me then and has done on subsequent viewings. My experience has certainly not been unique and it generally comes well down viewers' Thriller ratings. However on my very recent viewing I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy it. I'm certainly not going to say that this must now be considered a "Thriller classic" or that my past views were wrong. I hadn't watched it for many years and sometimes that means an episode is viewed with a much fresher mind which can lead to a much more positive - or negative - rating. Maybe next time I'll find it disappointing again but perhaps it does show that opinions can change over time and it's always important to speak as we find and not be led so much by past experience or other ratings.
The basic story idea is certainly a good one - a tale of an escaped serial killer with the added dimension of confusion over identities. Admittedly the confusion with identical twins is something of an over-used idea but the foundation is promising. The escaped psychopathic serial killer had been the basis for one of the earliest and best-remembered Thriller outings - The Colour of Blood. Maybe for some viewers that was part of the problem - the story seeming somewhat derivative. The Terry Spelling character has also been seen as much less magnetic than that of Arthur Page (played by Norman Eshley) in Colour. There is no doubt that the characters are very different - Page is a younger man, outwardly charming, even playful in his demeanour and certainly very attractive to women; Terry Spelling by contrast is more introverted and lugubrious, less self-confident except when he goes in for the kill. Overall Page has better screen-presence but it would have been too tempting and too easy to just create a very similar character. The very different personality of Terry does create an important difference from the earlier episode - not as memorable but a useful variation and perhaps quite fitting for someone who (unlike) Page has been in custody for years and is more worn-down and less self-assured.
Ian Hendry was one of the best-known and most popular TV actors of the 1960's and 1970's and he has a heavy load here having to play both Spelling twins. He does a very good job even if the characters are not as compelling as others in Thriller. In fact both Bob and Terry largely come across as similar personalities. At first Bob - when he meets Patty Heron on the train - is a rather annoying, pushy "ladies man" type character but later he settles down into a more serious, even downbeat style. For example we see him resisting the advances of his former fiancee Jenny soon afterwards, feeling he cannot trust her. Discovering that his brother was on the loose also inevitably dampens his mood - not just worries about what Terry would do but also subject to being mistaken for him. This similarity in personality and even clothing (Terry having accessed Bob's flat and taken some of his clothes) does add to the confusion which is useful on-screen with those encountering the twins unsure whether they were with the safe or the deadly one.
Villains in Thriller would often have a "trademark" and Terry is no different . He has a preocuppation with perfection and often uses the word "perfect" in prelude to his attacks. The use of this word is similar to the very sinister repetition of the word "marvellous" in Someone at the Top Of the Stairs although the impact was greater in the latter, perhaps due to it being used by many characters and adding to the macabre atmosphere of that house and its residents. The term does have a deeper significance here as it reflects how the twins' father had been preoccupied with achieving standards of perfection and Terry in particular had struggled to meet these, causing a difficult relationship with his father.
Donna Mills made her third and final appearance in the show as Patty but this is the least memorable. She is certainly not helped by a bizarre hairstyle which seems an architectural construction in itself! She acquits herself quite well, notably in the later stages as she starts to realise that the man she is with is not Bob but the highly dangerous Terry.
The police characters here are sound. There is an echo of Sign It Death in the way that they fail to notice a body hidden in a trunk. The other major character is the wealthy but rather dislikeable Mr Bradley (well-played by David Lodge) whose new fully-automated home forms the setting of the latter stages of the action. It's possible that the unappealing nature of Bradley plays a part in some of the low ratings but I feel the character's abrasiveness serves a useful role including tension with both Bob Spelling (who designed the house) and Patty.
There is quite a high body count in this edition but this does not always augur for a strong Thriller which is often at its best when the murders are used sparingly and attention focused on suspense. In this respect The Next Victim from the final series is rather similar (although probably a greater offender). Interestingly in both there is a scene of an attempted murder. Attempted murders - except at the climax of the hero or heroine - were unusual in the show where the villains were almost always successful in their actions.
Overall while this certainly not Thriller at its best it still has the capacity to intrigue and entertain and maybe benefits from fresh viewing. It's also possible it may be better received by viewers who see it before The Colour of Blood and who don't come to it with those expectations from what is arguably the show's definitive "psychopath" story.
Notes
Donna Mills made her third and final appearance in the show as Patty but this is the least memorable. She is certainly not helped by a bizarre hairstyle which seems an architectural construction in itself! She acquits herself quite well, notably in the later stages as she starts to realise that the man she is with is not Bob but the highly dangerous Terry.
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| Patty struggles to work out whether she is with the safe or deadly Spelling twin |
The police characters here are sound. There is an echo of Sign It Death in the way that they fail to notice a body hidden in a trunk. The other major character is the wealthy but rather dislikeable Mr Bradley (well-played by David Lodge) whose new fully-automated home forms the setting of the latter stages of the action. It's possible that the unappealing nature of Bradley plays a part in some of the low ratings but I feel the character's abrasiveness serves a useful role including tension with both Bob Spelling (who designed the house) and Patty.
There is quite a high body count in this edition but this does not always augur for a strong Thriller which is often at its best when the murders are used sparingly and attention focused on suspense. In this respect The Next Victim from the final series is rather similar (although probably a greater offender). Interestingly in both there is a scene of an attempted murder. Attempted murders - except at the climax of the hero or heroine - were unusual in the show where the villains were almost always successful in their actions.
Overall while this certainly not Thriller at its best it still has the capacity to intrigue and entertain and maybe benefits from fresh viewing. It's also possible it may be better received by viewers who see it before The Colour of Blood and who don't come to it with those expectations from what is arguably the show's definitive "psychopath" story.
Notes
It is perhaps a touch unlikely that in the later stages both Bob and Terry Spelling are wearing identical clothes even down to the same tie! However it makes other characters' confusion over who they are seeing more profound.
TV movie title-watch
These start with a very good, haunting refrain from a musical box with a rotating ballerina. Dialogue from Terry Spelling is interpolated into a murder in the opening titles, a technique that was also used in the new titles for Good Salary - Prospects - Free Coffin (renamed "Mirror of Deception")..
These start with a very good, haunting refrain from a musical box with a rotating ballerina. Dialogue from Terry Spelling is interpolated into a murder in the opening titles, a technique that was also used in the new titles for Good Salary - Prospects - Free Coffin (renamed "Mirror of Deception")..
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