The 1988 horror movieDead Ringerswas one of Jeremy Irons’s first big films, and it’s one of David Cronenberg’s most celebrated horror movies. While he is known forThe Fly,Videodrone, andScanners,Dead Ringersis another example of a shocking body horror story that doesn’t go where audiences might think that it will.
Jeremy Irons plays twin doctors Elliot and Beverly Mantle who have some terrible ideas about the way that they want to run their medical clinic. Like other David Cronenberg horror movies,Dead Ringershas a surprising ending that is darker than most. What happens to these twin characters? And how does the ending of theDead Ringersmovie compare to theDead Ringersminiseries that premiered on Amazon Prime Video in April 2023?
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Dead Ringersis one of thebest David Cronenberg horror moviesand follows twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle who run a clinic in Toronto. They are amazing at what they do and help women who are having trouble with their fertility. But their dark and sinister natures and intentions come to the forefront soon enough. As Beverly falls in love with a patient named Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold), he begins to spiral. There are times when Elliot pretends to be Beverly and sleeps with Claire. But while this behavior bothers Claire, she keeps dating Beverly.
Beverly begins to hallucinate that there are women who have problems down there, and he finds gynecological instruments that he wants to use in the operating room. But Beverly and Elliot understandably get into huge trouble for what they have done, and they are unable to practice medicine. Like othermodern body horror movies,Dead Ringersdoesn’t shy away from gruesome and brutal scenes.
Dead Ringershas a dark ending that is typical of David Cronenberg horror movies. Elliot says that Beverly should murder him which will let Beverly finally be free. Beverly removes a body part of Elliot’s, which is one of thegrossest body horror movie scenes. Then, the next day, realizes that he murdered him. They were both on drugs at the time and he hadn’t meant to actually kill his twin. After talking to Claire on the phone, Beverly passes away next to Elliot’s dead body in the medical clinic.
Elliot and Beverly Mantle have a dark and twisted bond.Dead Ringersdives into the twin dynamic in a creepier way than other movies. Both characters cause harm without a second thought and are completely fascinating to watch. The movie is visually stunning as the twins wear red when they operate, a move that is repeated in theDead RingersTV show and suggests the blood that is to come.
David Cronenberg’s sonBrandon Cronenberg made the body horror movieAntiviral, which was released in 2012, and also the 2023 filmInfinity Pool. Both David and Brandon Cronenberg have written and directed some of the bleakest, most intense, and most memorable body horror movies of the last few decades. TheDead Ringersending is meant to shock. It definitely leaves audiences thinking that nothing good could ever come of Beverly and Elliot’s dark desires and deception.
While there are manyunderrated body horror movies,Dead Ringershas been in the news recently thanks to the TV show on Amazon Prime Video. TheDead RingersTV adaptation stars Rachel Weisz as Elliot and Beverly. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Weisz said that they gave David Cronenberg a copy of the TV series. The publication said that he approved of the adaptation going forward.
While theDead RingersTV series has much in common with the David Cronenberg horror movie, including the cunning and dark nature of the twins Beverly and Elliot, the ending is different.
Elliot removes the twins from Beverly’s body and kills her in an operating room in the clinic. She knows that Beverly wants to die and does this to assist her. Elliot pretends to be Beverly, living with Genevieve (Britne Oldford) and raising their twins. There is a moment halfway through the credits that shares more information: a stranger explains to Elliot that Beverly was talking about Elliot, who she said had passed away, in a support group. Like agood plot twist in a movie, this ending makes everyone wonder what they just watched, and it’s fun to unpack.
TheDead RingersTV show ending leaves a lot of uncertainty. No one is sure which twin was who and if Elliot really killed Beverly and switched places with her. This is a smart way to end the miniseries and adds a fresh, fun twist to thebody horror movie subgenre.
