Saturday, August 31, 2013

Twixt and Between

I saw the trailer for the movie Twixt  a few months back and became disappointed that it was not out yet, unless I wanted to buy it from Amazon, which was a bit outside my budget. At that time the cost was $22.98, although that has come down some since.  This past weekend the movie showed up at my local Redbox and soon was playing in my DVD player.

The plot on this movie is a bit convoluted. A down and out writer, played by Val Kilmer, gets linked up with a crazy sheriff, played by Bruce Dern, and together they plan to co-author a book titled The Vampire Executions. Add a strange girl called V., a bunch of gypsy like characters on the other side of the river who might be vampires, a few guest appearances by Edgar Allen Poe, some murdered children and a dead daughter, and you have a strange recipe for horror.  The movie's trailers perhaps explains it best.


Twixt comes from the imagination of director Francis Ford Coppola known for movie greats like The Godfather, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. Unlike these memorable motion pictures, Twixt is done on his dime, based on a dream he had.  He's walking along and talking to an attractive young lady who has crooked teeth and explains she is a vampire. From there he's in this building where a grave is in the floor, and he is careful not to step on it, because children are buried there. On and on it goes. The problem with the movie is too much going on, on too many levels. Keeping the plots straight is not the hard part; figuring out how they intersect is.  Most stories have a main plot with subplot. In this tale, it seems like everything is the main plot.

What I did like about the movie was the creep factor, something every horror movie needs. The characters seem just not right in the head. Scenes feel askew. The story line is twisted. A technique he uses is shooting past events/dreams in black and white, although it looked more like deep blue and white. To this is a splash of color. The carpet over the grave is red. Edgar Allen Poe carries a lantern that glows yellow. When the children make lemonade aide the lemons are vivid yellow. Yes, of course, blood is redder than red. The overall effect is dark and creepy.

The reviews on this movie fell into two categories. Two star and five star, with the two stars winning. Yet if you like your tales served with a Gothic flavor, you may want to check it out.  Who knows, maybe one day Twixt will become cult movie.

Ron D. Voigts is the author of Claws of the Griffin, a dark cozy, available on Kindle.




Francis Ford Coppola. Not to overstate the obvious, but the director of The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now - See more at: http://www.fearnet.com/news/review/fearnet-movie-review-twixt#sthash.ITZN96kv.dpuf
Francis Ford Coppola. Not to overstate the obvious, but the director of The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now - See more at: http://www.fearnet.com/news/review/fearnet-movie-review-twixt#sthash.ITZN96kv.dpuf
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola

No comments:

Post a Comment