Filmland - History of Doppelganger Horror

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By now you’ve probably at least seen an advertisement for Jordan Peele’s sophomore feature Us, though based on the box office a lot of us have seen the film itself as well.  If you haven’t seen it yet don’t worry, no spoilers here, but the film’s focus on evil doppelgangers has definitely got me thinking.  Killer duplicates of oneself is a pretty great horror concept but one rarely explored in the medium as often as ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and various other forms of more widely accepted monsters.  As such, I’ve narrowed down the history of evil doubles in horror movies and TV in order to look back at the premise that’s given us one of the most memorable horror films of the year. 

1956 – INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

This prime piece of cold war paranoia represents the genesis of the evil duplicate on film, at least as far as the public consciousness is concerned.  Based after the book of the same name, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the story of a small California town beset by mysterious pods that produce an evil duplicate of you while you sleep who then replaces the original.  Starring Kevin McCarthy and directed by Don Siegel, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is often considered one of the great sci-fi horror B-movies of the ‘50s alongside the likes of The Fly and Incredible Shrinking Man and frankly, there’s a good reason for that.  

Despite the fairy tale version of the ‘50s as a time of innocence and prosperity, the decade was rife with paranoia, upheaval, forced conformity, and the omnipresent threat of nuclear war- all of which come together perfectly in this unnerving thriller made all the moodier by its black and white visuals.  What’s more, Kevin McCarthy absolutely steals the show as the lone human among the pod people (hey, this is where that term comes from) and while the fear of infiltration can easily be tied to the Red Scare of the time the genuineness of the fear makes it still impactful to this day.

1960 – TWILIGHT ZONE ‘MIRROR IMAGE’

Fun fact: Jordan Peele has actually name-dropped this particular Twilight Zone episode as a specific influence on Us.  That definitely fits as ‘Mirror Image’ fits many of the same dream-like logic aesthetics of Us while also bringing up the term “doppelganger” as part of its actual plot.  The story is of a young woman waiting for a bus in an all-night station when she becomes increasingly aware of her own doppelganger lurking within the station with her.  

It’s an odd little story that fits into one of The Twilight Zone’s favorite styles of episode: a mystery that doesn’t make sense.  There’s no given reason or deeper explanation for the double aside from some metaphysical ideas about other planes of reality that are somewhat dismissed by the ending narration.  It’s much more about the young woman’s fraying mental state while emphasizing the mystery of the doppelganger as a kind of nightmare you can’t wake up from.  Maybe not one of the best episodes the series ever produced but certainly a memorable one. 

1978 – INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (AGAIN)

Get used to seeing this name on the list cause we’ve got one more round to go (thankfully the 4^th adaptation of the film dropped the replacement angle so it doesn’t make the list.)  The 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a thoroughly different beast from its 1956 counterpart, taking a softer approach to the basic idea than the clear anti-communism style of the first film.  Starring Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy, the 1978 film trades the first’s ‘50s paranoia for ‘70s malaise, with the fear of the pod people reflecting concerns about the increasing dehumanization of the modern world rather than the invading force of communism or societal conformity.  

It also adds a greater degree of body horror thanks to the advanced FX and the really upsetting wrinkle that the pod people now emit a horrifying shriek.  While the 1956 film is the tighter movie on the whole (it has a greater devotion and conception of what it wants to be) the 1978 film has a lot of goodwill towards it especially thanks to Leonard Nimoy and Sutherland’s performances.  What’s more, the final ending shot is absolutely a killer moment and all-time classic of the horror genre.   

1980 – HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR ‘TWO FACES OF EVIL’

We’re getting truly obscure with this one though it has so many strong similarities to Us that I might have to do a full article on it somewhere down the line.  In 1980, British horror studio Hammer decided to launch a short-lived anthology horror TV show with a different hour-long horror story for each episode.  The 12^th episode of that series was ‘Two Faces of Evil,’ about a family on vacation that become menaced by murderous doppelgangers of themselves.  Much like ‘Mirror Image’ this is one of the only entries in the whole list to actually use the term ‘doppelganger’ as well as its curious mythology that they’re our villainous exact duplicates from another plane that enter our reality and must kill us to survive.  

Overall it’s a very impactful tale that follows the dream-like style of the Twilight Zone episode but amped up given the focus on a whole family and how unnerving the doppelgangers are.  This also introduces the idea that the doubles aren’t exactly perfect as the killer husband double has deformed teeth and a sharpened finger-nail he uses to ply his gory work.  For the short running time and obscurity, this is probably the best actual tale of doppelgangers on the list. 

1985 – TWILIGHT ZONE ‘SHATTERDAY’

Yeah, bet you forgot there was a 1985 Twilight Zone revival huh?  That’s probably because, for the most part, it wasn’t very good (sorry if you really like it.)  However, the premiere episode of the revival series, entitled ‘Shatterday,’ actually was a really interesting premise probably thanks to writing work by the great Harlan Ellison to say nothing of a genuinely good performance from Bruce Willis in the first of his trio of “man vs. self movie” (see also The Kid and Looper.)  

The story of ‘Shatterday’ is another classic Twilight Zone example of magical thinking though this time it’s done in a much more nuts and bolts style of storytelling: a selfish businessman tries to call his apartment to check his phone messages only to have himself answer the phone.  Apartment Willis ends up launching a kind of war against Outside Willis, consolidating resources and trying to live his life in a more caring and generous manner like taking care of their older failing mother.  Eventually, as the two continue their battle of wills for who gets to exist the selfish Willis wastes away more and more in the kind of happier ending that was a staple for the 1985 show and part of why we don’t remember it so well. 

1992 – ARMY OF DARKNESS

It’s kind of odd to think of how much “evil duplicates” are a core part of the Evil Dead franchise at this point but they absolutely are.  If you aren’t familiar with the series, it revolves around Ash Williams, played by Bruce Campbell, as he battles ancient monsters called Deadites who can possess the flesh of the living.  The series has had a long life transitioning from an intense horror film to a horror-comedy with the quasi-remake Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn and then entering into full-on horror/fantasy/action/comedy hybrid by the third installment Army of Darkness.  

Army of Darkness is where the series’ love for evil duplicates starts as it featured both an army of mischievous tiny versions of Ash but a full on an evil double of him who, after getting disfigured to make the FX work easier, became the film’s prime antagonist.  It’s an absolute blast of a high concept adventure that draws inspiration from a number of sources to keep things fun and scary and exciting.  What’s more, the follow-up TV show Ash vs. The Evil Dead also featured a handful of evil Ash duplicates all its own as the series has always been pretty tongue-in-cheek about how bad of a dude its ostensible hero actually is. 

1993 – THE DARK HALF

Let’s get this out of the way now: The Dark Half is the best entry on this entire list.  Directed by George A. Romero of Night of the Living Dead fame, the film adapted the Stephen King novel of the same name and starred the often under-appreciated Timothy Hutton.  Hutton plays a highbrow novelist (this is a Stephen King story) who becomes haunted by the form of his own parasitic twin.  

It’s an incredibly bizarre and upsetting concept though it explores a lot of ideas King would use repeatedly throughout his work, such as the vestigial twin taking the name George Stark, the pen name Hutton’s character uses for his non-highbrow work.  There are a lot of similarities in this regard to the later King story Secret Window though The Dark Half is far superior for how spooky and ethereal it is as both men struggle with having only one soul between them, both trying to be the one who gets to live. 

1994 – BODY SNATCHERS

From an extreme high to an extreme low, Body Snatcher is easily the least of the three adaptations of the original novel (I haven’t seen the 2000s remake entitled Invasion as it doesn’t involve duplicates.)  The 1993 film was directed by Abel Ferrara, a mostly independent director who started out making exploitation films like Driller Killer (a notorious video nasty) before transitioning into more thoughtful work in the ‘90s like Bad Lieutenant and King of New York.  Body Snatcher is one of Ferrara’s only forays into science fiction and it’s easy to see why as despite his occasional skill at horror none of his acclaimed talent makes it onto the screen here.  This version of the story is reset to a military base in Alabama and again follows plant-like pods that create killer duplicates of people while they sleep.  

The big problem here is that there’s just no character on display, the heroes of the film are paper thin and barely established and without that core grounding, there’s no anxiety or tension to be exploited.  Where the 1956 film represented fear of both communist infiltration and ‘50s forced conformity and the 1978 film focused on the dehumanization of the modern age the 1993 film is about how the rigid life of a military base is kind of like pod people if you really squint and force the metaphor.  I know this film has its defenders but I’m sorry there’s just nothing to recommend with this one. 

2008 – MIRRORS

This one is a bit of a cheat as technically the monsters involved aren’t doppelgangers or doubles but mirrors, however, it still has enough man vs. self action that I felt secure in adding it to the list- also I really liked this movie so I’m counting it.  Originally starting life as a remake of the Korean Horror film Into the Mirror, the script slowly morphed into its own unique entity under the supervision of director Alexandre Aja, director of The Hills Have Eyes remake and High Tension.  Incidentally, if that resume makes you think this is going to be a gore-fest: don’t, Mirrors is actually a fairly tame horror film aside from a few pretty intense scenes.  

The plot revolves around Kiefer Sutherland’s character, a cop who got laid-off and has taken a job as a night watchman at a burned-out department store where the mirrors are alive and malicious.  You definitely get a sense of the linger Asian horror aesthetic here as a lot of the actual plot of the movie is about unraveling the mystery of the mirrors in a way that reminds me of The Ring or even Stir of Echoes.  This leaves the movie as more of an urban fantasy film than straight horror but it’s still got some good thrills and chills, especially when people’s reflections start coming to life and hurting themselves, causing severe damage to their real-world counterparts. 

2009 – TRIANGLE

And so the list sputters to a halt with a pretty weak final entry: those are the breaks sometimes.  Triangle, released in 2009, is ostensibly a slasher film though despite the name and boat setting it has nothing to do with the Bermuda Triangle.  More than anything it’s a time travel horror movie though not one that really makes sense.  It’s the story of a group of friends who go out boating one day only to be caught in a storm and come upon a derelict ocean liner.  They board the ship only for a mysterious killer with a bag over their head to start picking them off one by one and if you think “is the killer one of the friends but time displaced?” yes, that’s less of a twist and more of just the plot of the movie though.  

Triangle’s biggest problem is that it’s far too concerned with looking clever than being clever.  The idea of fighting a you that’s displaced in time is cool and even creepy but so much of the time travel and time loop stuff in the movie doesn’t make any sense and is just there to look cool and seem smart, especially the ending.  Maybe you could enjoy it if you’re more forgiving and pretzel logic in the name of coolness but personally this was just another weak 2000s horror movie getting in right at the end of the decade. 

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