Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Beautiful, moving film.

As Good As It Gets

Blistering performances.

Now here's a rarity: a '60s-era slasher movie and the one and only horror film from the Boulting Brothers, a director/producer combo better known for making genteel comedies. And what a joy it turns out to be! Best known today as the film featuring the eerily whistled tune that Tarantino borrowed for KILL BILL (thank you, Bernard Herrmann!), Twisted Nerve is an engaging portrait of a psychopath that turns out to be every bit the film that PSYCHO is. How strange, then, that it seems to be virtually forgotten.Hywel Bennett stars as Martin Durnley, a baby-faced youth suffering from the titular affliction. This, truly, is the performance of a lifetime; a frightening portrayal of a seemingly normal and friendly young man who adopts a separate personality to get close to the object of his obsession, Hayley Mills (and you can't blame him: all grown up from her days as a child actor, Miss Mills is extremely lovely). The ensuing plot is one of those 'cuckoo in the nest' stories used in the likes of everything from THE GODSEND to ORPHAN; Durnley worms his way into the life of an ordinary household before going on to wreak chaos.The packaging and advertising for this film makes it look like a slasher film in the vein of Friday THE 13TH, but it really isn't. Indeed, this film is so subtle as to be sublime. There are few murders on show, and the violence is mostly kept offscreen. Instead, the scriptwriters emphasise the deranged personality of his villain so that this becomes nothing less than a character study of a psychopath, both believable and chilling. The film is beautifully shot and laced with fine performances from Barry Foster (brash), Billie Whitelaw (seductive) and Frank Finlay (pompous). I've seen most British horror films but this one always slipped me by; now I've finally got around to watching it, it's gone to the top of my list as one of the best of all time.

In 1960, two respected British directors debuted shocking psychosexual thrillers, to mixed critical and commercial receptions: Alfred Hitchcock with 'Psycho,' and Michael Powell with 'Peeping Tom.' Both films were shocking in their time, and their influence on low-budget 1960s horror can't be overstated. Roy Boulting's 'Twisted Nerve (1968)' is a typical Hitchcock rip-off, but of the serious, stylish Brian De Palma mould, rather than the schlocky comic-horror of William Castle. The film introduces us to Martin Durnley (Hywel Bennett), the younger brother of a man suffering from "mongolism," the condition now known as Down Syndrome. Though seemingly healthy a birth, it seems that young Martin has developed some psychopathic, psychosexual tendencies, inextricably linked to a chromosomal mismatch at conception. Martin pretends to be mentally-challenged in order to get into bed with the virginal Susan (Disney favourite Hayley Mills, later the director's much-younger wife), only to instead capture the attentions of Susan's lonely mother (Billie Whitelaw) – did I mention this film was rather twisted?Though the film treats its absurd, gloriously un-PC narrative with the utmost seriousness, it is nevertheless startlingly effective at capturing the main character's psychoses. Bennett's performance is menacing and pathetic in equal degree, playing a sort of introverted Alex DeLarge, whose wicked intentions are always bubbling beneath an otherwise honest exterior. 'Twisted Nerve' also features a maddeningly catchy musical theme, memorably recycled in Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2004),' composed by Bernard Hermann, who by this time was estranged from Hitchcock on account of his rejected score for 'Torn Curtain (1967).' Nevertheless, it's clear that Alfred Hitchcock himself both saw and enjoyed 'Twisted Nerve,' as he cast both Barry Foster and Billie Whitelaw in his own back-to-basics British shocker 'Frenzy (1972).' Due to controversy surrounding its depiction of Down Syndrome, the film opens with a spoken announcement that attempts to shirk responsibility for its political incorrectness, but without much luck. I probably wouldn't have it any other way.

I have to agree with other critics of this film because after finally getting the chance to see it, I have realised it does not deliver on any level. The story opens with a disturbed man named Martin being caught stealing a toy from a department store. Following a later argument with his parents, he leaves home and sets up a clever deception built around an attractive girl named Susan (who he encountered while stealing the toy), conning her into thinking he's retarded and moving into her family's small guest house, while at the same time conning his parents into thinking he has taken a trip to Paris. Martin's behaviour is for the most part indecipherable, but one thing's for sure, it's all going to end in tears.The reason, I think, behind the film's failing, is it's pivotal explanation for why Martin is behaving abnormally, which is spurious in the extreme. Based around a medical condition, the film goes to great lengths to show learned doctors discussing just such a topic and how it might affect a sufferer. The trouble is that the script writers did not seem to know what "disturbed" traits to actually give the the character of Martin, so he simply acts erratically, inconsistently and ultimately homicidally just to make the plot exciting. The feeble reasoning behind his behaviour really dates the film, and I can only assume there must have been some research being done at around the time the film was made (1968) that inspired such ideas.At any rate, the film was not well received at the time because of it, and it only appears worse when viewed today. So too does some really appalling racism directed towards an Indian doctor in the film, which is highly embarrassing to watch. The acting on the whole is pretty good, although Hywel Bennett does not instill the character of Martin with any particular depth, and Hayley Mills looks very pretty as Susan and fulfils the role very well although she isn't given very much to do. Much more interesting is Billie Whitelaw as Susan's mother, who makes a real impact with her appearance.Sadly the film itself can't claim to grab the attention. Despite a small sprinkling of blood and murder, things never get really tense or gripping. The overall impression is spoiled by the sheer datedness of the thing, but more importantly, it seems as though the whole thing was written around the expectation that the spectacular psychological revelations would carry it, but as they don't work, the film as a whole doesn't work either. As it stands, it's just another film about a disturbed man causing trouble, and it doesn't really do that very well.

This is very dated and very much of its time (a capsule of the 'swinging sixties). Strangely set bound (even the exterior scenes are filmed on a set), it has the appearance / atmosphere of a stage play. For such a distinguished cast, there are more than a few shaky performances which makes the direction suspect. Not particularly enjoyable as a thriller, certainly not scary and why the DVD still carries an 18 certificate in the Uk heaven only knows. On any night of the week you can watch more explicit material than this on the main TV channels. Only worth watching as a curiosity now I'm afraid. One thing's for sure, Hywel Bennett would certainly have been better keeping his clothes on in the film, his pasty body isn't a pretty sight!