In its depiction of a pair of twins, one of whom is a psychotic killer, THE DARK MIRROR is a film very much ahead of its time. It's an engrossing period piece that benefits greatly from a fine performance from Olivia de Havilland playing the twins, Terry and Ruth Collins. Accompanied by some excellent back projection work (you won't see the seams!), you never stop believing for a second that both twins are separate people.
Elsewhere, the plotting is fairly ordinary for a film noir type thriller. There are the flat-footed policemen getting nowhere, a dedicated shrink who finds himself falling for the murder suspect(s) and some effectively grim, doom-laden atmosphere from director Robert Siodmak. It's the sort of film somebody like David Cronenberg would have been making had he been working during the 1940s. The twist ending is particularly strong.
Elsewhere, the plotting is fairly ordinary for a film noir type thriller. There are the flat-footed policemen getting nowhere, a dedicated shrink who finds himself falling for the murder suspect(s) and some effectively grim, doom-laden atmosphere from director Robert Siodmak. It's the sort of film somebody like David Cronenberg would have been making had he been working during the 1940s. The twist ending is particularly strong.