Twixt (2012)

(aka Twixt Peaks)
Release Date: On Blu-ray & DVD now.
Country: USA
Written & Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola.
Starring: Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chaplin and Joanne Whalley (Kilmer.)

The good news is that if you live in Sweden, or have a region-free Blu-ray player you can finally see Francis Ford Coppola's Twixt. If not, then the Swede's have a leg up on you!

This is why we own region-free Blu-ray players. They're all kinds of handy.

As for the film itself... well, it's definitely somewhere twixt good and bad.

At this point in his career, Francis Ford Coppola has more than earned the right to make whatever the hell he feels like making. Not only is he from our hometown, but the man has given us Godfathers, Conversations, Apocalypse's, Outsiders, Fish and even a Dracul... he's more than made his bones.

That being said, Twixt is an odd, sparse little film. Coppola based the movie in part on a dream he had, and knowing that makes it all make much more sense. Like most dreams, Twixt evokes some interesting visuals and brings forth different emotions, but makes very little linear sense. At times it feels like a cheap audition reel while at others it feels like Coppola at his best.

Francis Ford Coppola is old and might be insane, Val Kilmer is old and well into the "Direct to DVD" phase of his career, and Bruce Dern is literally 112 years old... so I ask... what in the hell is going on in this picture?

Val Kilmer plays a writer on a tour supporting his latest book. He stops off in a small town which seems to be haunted, and also seems to be stuck in a wave of kitsch that feels reminiscent of Twin Peaks. As luck would have it, a young local girl was recently found murdered, and Kilmer figures that investigating the crime might give him some much needed inspiration for his new book. Then there's something about a curse and some poisoned Kool-Aid, a creepy pedophile and the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe. 

I'm not even sure what just happened.

"No, I am not Steven Seagal!"

Twixt appears to be an extremely personal film for Coppola. Is it good? Kinda. It feels like a rough cut of a movie that looks like its going to be really good, but that never gets the editing it so badly needs. It really does feel a bit like Twin Peaks, if Twin Peaks were more Gothic and made less sense. Yeah, it feels much more like David Lynch is behind the camera here than Francis Ford. We do have to say that the two scenes utilizing 3D were pretty damned good though.

There are some great moments of Horror goodness throughout this movie. It's got scenes involving Vampires, Ghosts and a child murderer all causing havoc, most of which work pretty well. Even Edgar Allen Poe shows up. Sounds great, right? Well, mostly. We wish Coppola would have stuck with the Horror elements far more than he did, as the movie would have been better off for it.

We Know, Val. We know.

If Coppola's goal was to film a dream in all of its nonsensical being, then this film is a masterpiece. If his goal was to make a compelling movie based on a dream he once had, then not so much. My guess is that he left the film with an unedited and uneven feel to it to resemble a dream as closely as possible, but I think that in the end it hurts more than helps. Worth a watch, Twixt is an interesting if not coherent movie that some genre fans may end up loving. For us, a middle of the road venture.

C

Twixt stars two girls who are under 18 and Joanne Whalley, and I am not posting a picture of Val Kilmer's ex-wife here... so here you go Ladies and Gay Gentlemen, enjoy some sweaty, shirtless Val Kilmer!

You're welcome.

The Best of 2012... so far.

2012 is half in the bag already, and it feels like it has flown by, doesn’t it? There have been a lot of genre flicks for horror fans to love/hate so far, so let’s take a quick mid-year pause to reflect on the year in horror thus far.

It's pretty easy to throw words like "Best" and "Worst" around without much care. My best could be your worst. Ranking movies is fairly subjective work... but then again, it's not really that subjective. Take personal preference and bias out of the equation, and focus on aspects such as writing, plot structure, pacing, cinematography, acting and other "tangible" qualities, and it's more of an objective venture.

That being said, we're definitely elitist pricks who think they know the good and the bad, and you should listen to our words as if they are dogma. (Humor us... we have self-esteem issues.)

So what has 2012 given us in the way of good quality horror and genre entertainment?


For us, Cabin in the Woods is the best horror flick we've seen this year. Is it the best? Not necessarily, but it sure as hell was the most inventive and different, and we still smile when we think about it. The Blu-ray hits on September 18th and we are geeked; we need to see this movie and its extras in HD.

The Grey was bleak and almost depressing, but wow was it ever a good flick. It's more on the "heavy" side of things, but it definitely ranks amongst the year's best. Liam Neeson fist fighting wolves... come on!

The Woman in Black was a return to the old Hammer haunted house flicks of old for us. We loved its quiet atmosphere and the underlying feeling of dread present throughout. Definitely one of the most enjoyable flicks we've seen this year.

God Bless America... what a timely and fun little flick. Bobcat Goldthwait has given us an on-point indictment of modern day American pop culture and we loved the movie's message. If you like your horror laced with dark humor, then this is definitely a flick for you. Exploding baby FTW.

The Pact is definitely the surprise of the year for us thus far; we never expected it to be anything more than a b-grade flick at best, but were surprised to find it a competently made and effective creepfest. It takes a lot ot creep us out, even a little bit (mainly because we're equal parts desensitized and jaded), but The Pact managed to give us a few chills along with its thrills.

Finally we have Rabies; the little Jewish backwoods horror movie that could. It had nothing to do with rabies. You could call it a backwoods slasher flick but that wouldn't really do it justice. Whatever you classify it as, it's a different and entertaining movie that has more going for it than the average stalk-and-slash flick.


We can't make a best of list without mentioning a few non-horror flicks.

Our favorite movie of the year in any genre has to be The Avengers; a big budget summer popcorn flick with heart, a solid story, great characters and some amazing action. This is the movie that will redefine both blockbusters and comic book flicks forever.

The Raid: Redemption was a hell of a good time too. It's no big budget blockbuster, but I'll be damned if I've seen any other flick that small pack so much crazy action and insanity into a two hour time frame, and do it this well, in years.

Hunger Games, Prometheus and Snow White, while not being perfect, were all great flicks in their own way.

Those that deserve Honorable Mention:

Keep in mind that the preceding list is more of a round-up than a definitive ranking.

The Midlins are next...

The Middlins

2012 is half in the bag already, and it feels like it has flown by, doesn’t it? There have been a lot of genre flicks for horror fans to love/hate so far, so let’s take a quick mid-year pause to reflect on the year in horror thus far.

They aren't the best, they aren't the worst, they're simply The Midlins.

Some of the movies below were pretty good but had some flaws that kept them from being great, others were not so good but had an element or two about them that made them enjoyable. Still other hit the festival circuit last year but didn't see a proper release until this year... there are a lot of reasons for a movie to end up here.

Middle of the Road isn't the worst place to be.

Keep in mind that the preceding list is more of a round-up than a definitive ranking.

The Worst be next...

The Worst of 2012... so far.

2012 is half in the bag already, and it feels like it has flown by, doesn’t it? There have been a lot of genre flicks for horror fans to love/hate so far, so let’s take a quick mid-year pause to reflect on the year in horror thus far.

Now, let's finally tackle the bad stuff…


For the record, I will not accept that Piranha 3DD was written and directed the way it was intentionally, and that they wanted it to be a  so-bad-it's-good type of an experience. They dropped the ball on this one. Period.

It's really hard to articulate how bad Don't Go in the Woods was. Just imagine a shitty Emo band on a camping trip, breaking into spontaneous acoustic song while being picked off one by one... yeah, it's a slasher musical. Shame on you, Vincent D'Onofrio.

The Oregonian is simply one of the worst movies I have ever seen. And before you wonder if the qualifier "worst ever" is deserved, let me tell you that I've endured some horrendous movies; Ice From the Sun, Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist, The Apple... Hell, long before there was a THC, we were a collective of fools who relished getting together and watching bad movies. For fun.

ATM is nothing more than a string of flimsy plot devices that serve only to allow the premise of this movie to exist. Why they were in that particular ATM to begin with was just silly, and what unfolded during the course of the movie was just as bad.

Had anything about Area 407 (the original title was Tape 407 btw) movie been suspenseful, terrifying, atmospheric or even compelling, its shortcomings would have been far less noticeable. As it stands though, this movie is an example of  Found Footage done wrong, and shows perfectly why these movies are so hard to effectively pull off, and it makes the sub-genre look silly.

Finally we have The Amityville Haunting. There's zero suspense, no scares, horrible acting, an abysmal script, and the ever annoying un-steady cam that is constantly present in these POV flicks... We'd sooner roll a live grenade into a Kindergarten class than endure this crap again, and we love kids.

Those deserving Honorable Mention:



And that's that. Now, we just have to sit back and see what the 2nd half of 2012 offers us, and enjoy (or hope for the best.)