Twisted Nerve

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with Martin playing catch with his younger brother Pete, who has learning difficulties and lives in a segregated school in London. Martin is the only remaining figure in Pete's family life; their father died years ago and their mother has a new life with a new husband. Martin expresses concern for his brother's well-being to the school's physician, who is comfortable with Pete's progress.
After the title sequence, Martin is shown in a toy store, gazing at Susan, who purchases a toy. As she leaves, Martin follows after having pocketed a toy duck. Two store detectives ask them to return to the manager's office. The detectives assert that Martin and Susan were working together to allow Martin to steal a toy. Susan assures them she has never met Martin. The manager asks Susan for her address and Martin appears to make a mental note when she offers it. When questioned by the manager, Martin turns soft, presents himself as mentally challenged and calls himself "Georgie". Sympathetic to him, Susan pays for the toy. Certain that this was a misunderstanding, the manager lets them leave.
Martin returns home and finds his parents arguing in the parlor, over his lack of interest in life. There is allusion to some perverse behaviour he has exhibited, though this is not elaborated upon. In his room, now behaving as "Georgie", he rocks in a rocking chair while smiling meekly in the mirror and caressing a stuffed animal. The camera pans down to reveal that the rocking motion of the chair is smashing a photo of his stepfather.
The next day, Martin goes to Susan's house and waits for her to return. She arrives with a young Indian man named Shashee. He drops off Susan, who thanks him and she goes to the library, where she keeps an after-school job. Martin approaches Susan who immediately recognises him as "Georgie". He tells her that he followed her and pays her back for the toy. Before he leaves, Martin, as Georgie, gets Susan to lend him a book about animals.
Martin has a heated conversation with his stepfather, who insists he travel to Australia. Martin refuses and returns to his room. Martin stares in the mirror, bare-chested, and careeses himself. He removes the rest of his clothes as the camera reveals a stack of bodybuilding magazines on his dresser. He then smashes the mirror in apparent frustration or anger.
Martin sets in motion a plan to leave home, pretend to go to France and then go on to live with Susan. Martin leaves his family and shows up late at Susan's mother's house, where she rents rooms. Presenting himself as Georgie, he gains sympathy both from Susan and her mother and they let him stay.
The plot unravels with Martin's duplicitous nature clashing against his desires to win Susan's heart. He wants her to accept him as a lover, but cannot reveal that he is in fact Martin, as he is worried she will shun him. Meanwhile, Martin uses his new-found identity to his advantage to seek out revenge on his stepfather, who believes he is in France. This series of decisions leads Martin down the path of self-destruction.
One night, Martin sneaks out of Susan's house after stealing a pair of scissors and stabs his stepfather to death in the garage of his home after his stepfather comes home from a dinner party. The police investigate the next day and focus their attention to finding Martin for questioning.
A few days later, Martin invites himself to tag along with Susan who is going for a swim at a country lake where Martin attempts to kiss her until she refuses his advances, making her uncomfortable and suspicious about him. At home a little later, Susan searches Martin's room while cleaning it and discovers several books hidden in Martin's drawer that a simpleton person like him would not read or understand as well as book titled "Knowing Yourself from Your Signature" which the signatures in the blank pages list 'Martin Durney'.
At this point, Susan begins investigating Martin, first by talking with his mother, and realizes that Martin and Georgie are one and the same after seeing a photograph of Martin at the house. Next, Susan visits Shashee at a hospital where he works as a resident to question him about split personalities and suspects that Martin may be not mentally challenged but a narcissistic sociopath.
At Susan's house, Martin begins losing mental control over himself as he rightly suspects that Susan may know who he really is. When Susan's neglected and unsuspecting mother attempts to sexually arouse Martin, he kills her by hacking her apart with a hatchet in the backyard wood shed (off-camera).
When Susan arrives home, Martin holds her captive in his room after finally revealing his true persona. He forces Susan to undress so he can sexually fondle her, while Susan's mother's body is found in the woodshed by Gerry Henderson, one of the "paying guests", who calls the police just at the time that Shashee learns the truth about Martin and also calls the police from the hospital and races to the house to rescue Susan.
The police arrive at Susan's house where they finally subdue and arrest Martin just when he appears that he is going to kill her. They burst into Susan's room as three shots are heard, but Martin had fired at his reflection in the mirror. As Martin is taken away he claims that he is Georgie and had killed Martin. Susan is unharmed but badly shaken. The final shot shows Martin, now confined in a cell at a local mental hospital, ranting over his lost love Susan.

Tags: violence

Review:
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.
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.
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.
'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.
His illness is "triggered" when he leaves his troubled home (a rich demanding father and infantilizing mother) to live as a border in the home of a college student (Haley Mills) and her mother (Billie Whitelaw).The film works especially well when his sexuality is aroused by both Haley Mills and Billie Whitelaw, with disastrous results.The movie takes its time to unfold.
Hywell Bennet is most effective as the young man who tries to break from his mother and Hayley Mills surprisingly good playing against type.
He adopts the persona of Georgie – a boy with the mental age of a child – in order to dupe his way into the boarding house of a girl he is obsessed with and to enact his deadly scheme.There's a pretty good cast in this one.
It was unsurprisingly and tediously stolen by Quentin 'I've seen lots of films and I want you to know about it' Tarantino for Kill Bill Vol.1.I guess you would have to classify Twisted Nerve as a cult movie.
Hayley Mills and Hywel Bennett who scored big in The Family Way, she as the eager bride and him as the groom with nervous performance problems, made several films after that together.
You never know when Bennett is going to finally lose it, but when he does you are fearful of this man/child.Nothing like The Family Way, but still a good film..
Screenplay/writer Leo Marks wouldn't be wet behind the ears to controversy, due to the fact he wrote the story for chillingly sleazy 1960 'Peeping Tom' that saw director Michael Powell's work getting heavily cut.Martin Darnley is a coldly smart, but considerably nurtured and lonely young lad of a wealthy family that sees his mother smother him, while his domineering step-father wants to get rid of him and his mongoloid brother hospitalized.
Under certain circumstances and made-up stories he finds himself staying at a lodging house owned by Susan and her mother Joan.Where it goes on to spark the interest and really builds around is the dark and unnerving psychological interplay of Martin (with a magnificently conniving and edgy performance by Hywel Bennett) manipulating and preying on the goodwill of others to adapt and form his new identity for ones own gain.
Martin/Georgie is a mommy obsessed psychopath with a mental age of an infant.Georgie dupes his way into beautiful Hayley Mills' residence and the sinister things begin to happen..."Twisted Nerve" is a psychological thriller strongly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho".The camera-work is outstanding as is the acting.There are only two murders shown in the film,so fans of horror will be disappointed.The soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann of "Psycho" fame is truly memorable as is the whistling theme later used by Tarantino in "Kill Bill Vol 1".The characters are well-written and there is strong emphasis on oedipal complex.8 out of 10..
Twisted Nerve doesn't seem to have a great reputation, and while the film (like its lead character) certainly does have some problems, I enjoyed this one in spite of them.
Hayley Mills delivers the typical young British female lead, while Billie Whitelaw is the real standout for me as the young girl's mother.
I can see why this film is not often hailed as a classic; but if you're looking for an interesting watch and don't care about some silly ideas, Twisted Nerve comes recommended..
I felt a little sorry for esteemed British actress Billie Whitelaw here (forced to come onto pasty-faced man-child Hywel Bennett as if he were a simpleton stud).
Brighter aspects are a good performance by Hayley Mills as the pretty librarian who is befriended by Bennett; a weird, wonderful score by Bernard Herrmann; as well as some fancy camera tricks and editing.
This is a shame given that this is a well and truly crafted thriller with great performances that does echo tension with the actions of the lead character.The biggest strength relies on Martin who has an alter ego who pretends to be a simpleton, just so he can con his way into a woman's affections.
Despite living a lift of wealth and good looks, his mind is anything but stable, with an overbearing mother and a down syndrome brother who is put away for just being handicapped and is more or less forgotten about, apart from by Martin, a deep hatred for his stepfather, his mind begins to shatter like a broken mirror which sends him into a spiral.
It is often difficult to pull this kind of thing of convincingly, but here it is done right and slowly builds throughout the movie.Okay this isn't a perfect movie and does have some lower points, like there is just way too much time focused on Martin's descent into madness, instead of moving along at a quicker pace, it seems that other elements of the film suffers in a way, and also the message at the beginning of the movie just contradicted the events of what happens, is also just silly.
But asides from this is a really good movie with camera styles and technique that echoes Hitchcock, along with well written main characters, something that's rare these days, does make this viewing a treat.The casting like I already said is excellent Hywel Bennett who plays Martin was the clear standout, his performance was chilly and captivating, his pleasant features and broad range are both hypnotic and terrifying.
Billie Whitelaw gives a great sympathetic turn as the owner and Susan's mother, she felt very tragic as a woman whose just wants to be loved.All in all "Twisted Nerve" is a very complex thriller that may be slow burning at times, but well worth a 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.
Watching a movie made before this time is often the cure, one that excites the mind in unexpected ways.1968's Twisted Nerve pushes all the wrong buttons, with an unapologetically blunt commentary on hot-button topics such as racism, homosexuality, classism, colonialism, sexual perversion and psychotic behavior.
Perhaps if the PC police were told this film was Sci-Fi horror, TN would have found a wider audience instead of remaining a cult gem cherished by few.Full of visual references to Hitchcock and an unforgettable score by Bernard Herrmann, Twisted Nerve watches like one of Hitch's bastard children, a nasty oddity the Master must have been proud to have inspired..
Like that movie, it tries to explain psychopathic behavior with half-baked genetic theories and it managed to offend the families of mongoloids everywhere by implying that their normal siblings were prone to become serial killers.There are really two main problems with this movie: it's too sleazy for Haley Mills fans and it's not nearly sleazy enough for horror movie fans.
The climax is fairly well managed, but it can't really save the film.Twisted Nerve was controversial in it's day because it supposedly linked criminal behaviour with mongolism, but it's more annoying that most of the aspects of Bennett's character are briefly presented and than unexplored and discarded, for instance his sexuality.
At least most of the cast ,who are generally little to do except sit and talk, are good, but you know things are bad when Bernard Herrmann's score is mediocre, except for the main theme which was also used in Kill Bill.This would actually have worked better if it had lost half an hour- the almost two hour running time is certainly not justified!
Having now seen it, I ask "what film did he watch?" The Twisted Nerve I just watched is a surprisingly good, well made thriller that does not deserve it's critical drubbing or audience ignorance (It is also not a Splatter" movie as the review states).
This movie had one of the best whistle in any movie I've seen.The story is about psychosis, Hayley Mills plays Susan Harper, a young student who tries to help a rich, emotionally ill and sinister young man, Martin Durnley (Hywel Bennett).
Martin, again acting like a young child, is taken in by Susan's mother, Joan Harper (Billie Whitelaw), who runs a boarding house.Do you that scene from Kill Bill where Elle Driver is walking down the corridor in the hospital and she starts whistling that awesome but menacing whistle, yeah do you know that first came from?
yep this movie and that's the only reason I checked it out because of that, after seeing the movie I can say that this a pretty damn good horror movie and the most overlooked horror movie I've seen.Hayley Mills as the main psychopath of the movie dose a brilliant and a menacing little creep that got under my skin, because Martin or George (The main character psychopath) acts like a man child as he acts like he hasn't grown up yet and everyone treats him like a child, but really his a pure psycho and that pretty much explains why he acts like a little kid just to act innocent and fool everyone.
Now when I think about it it's kind of nerving that this guy acts like this and that just add to unsettling nature of are main killer and Hayley Mills did a outstanding performance playing this character.The director of the movie Roy Boulting which this is my first movie that he directed that I've seen and Roy Boulting did great behind the camera filming the unsettling and the uncomfortable scene where Martin was in and the director really set the scene very well.
Some of the other characters in the movie I didn't really care about to be honest, I only cared about Martin the killer because well he's so messed up that makes him more interesting.Overall Twisted Nerve is a good overlooked horror movie that at times felt like a Alfred Hitchcock film at times..
However, outside of this little red herring, a fairly good story and performances can be found underneath.The story revolves around a troubled rich young man named Martin Durnley (Bennett).
Martin plays along with this for awhile, but then winds up at a boardinghouse, run by Susan and her mother, Joan (Billie Whitelaw, who won a British Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress).
The film ends, and Bernard Herrmann's "Psycho-esque" score plays in the background."Twisted Nerve"  is a very good psychological drama, but because it is not politically correct (none of the characters ever use the term "mentally challenged" or even "Down's Syndrome."  They simply opt for words like "mongol" and "mentally backward" to describe these people), it may not be liked by some audiences.
However, these obstacles aside, what the viewer has is a fairly good drama, with especially excellent performances by Hywel Bennett and Billie Whitelaw.The film was doomed upon its release, because, controversy aside, it was marketed as an axe-killer slasher flick.
We all tend to have our own preferences when it comes to actors, but I don't think anyone could've chosen the leads better - Bennett's innocent looks serve nothing but to further add to the disturbing nature of the character he's portraying - the terror of Martin is that he could be anyone, the guy at school who's taken a liking into you, your next door neighbour, a cashier at the local shop - he's likable and cute and there's no way of telling his true intentions until it's too late.
Laced with the perfect amount of nerve-wrecking music and unfolding the plot slowly and meticulously all the way up to the boiling point, I think anyone who fancies themselves a good thriller shouldn't miss on this one, especially with all the wonderful work that has been put into the character and plot development..
There's more controversial stuff going on as well, like the suggestive sexual tension between a mature woman (Billie Whitelaw is a stupendous role) and the allegedly mentally handicapped boy, a demented showcasing of motherly love and even the dubious sexual preference of Martin's character itself.
Repulsion deals with "does harm to others" while Black Swan deals with "does harm to self".Hywel Bennett is very good here as the troubled soul & Hayley Mills comes across as a full blown young adult (with boobs).
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.
Good period film, excellent acting from Hywell Bennett - his best ever?.
Late '60s British psychological thriller Twisted Nerve makes a rather insensitive connection between mongolism (Down's Syndrome) and psychopathic tendencies, which may be upsetting for some viewers (the film ran into trouble on its original release for just that reason); however, political incorrectness aside, this is a very entertaining movie—a deftly directed, well acted study of a dangerous character who is completely unable to understand, feel or function like a normal human being.A young Hywel Bennett plays 22-year-old Martin Durnley, brother to a mongol, whom he regularly visits at a care home.
Stopping off at a store on the way home, Martin spies lovely librarian Susan (Hayley Mills) in the toy department, and employs a rather unorthodox strategy to make her acquaintance: he involves her in a case of shoplifting, subsequently pretending to be mentally retarded to excuse his actions.
Calling himself Georgie, he proceeds to concoct an elaborate ruse to worm his way into Susan's life, eventually taking up residency in the guest house she shares with her mother Joan (Billie Whitelaw), and lodgers Shashie Kadir (Salmaan Peerzada) and Gerry Henderson (Barry Foster).As well as providing an excuse to get close to Susan, Martin's deception enables him to be rid of his domineering and disapproving stepfather Henry (Frank Finlay): one night, when 'Georgie' is supposedly tucked up in bed, Martin sneaks out of the guest house and murders Henry, returning back before anyone can notice his absence; however, there's no such thing as the perfect crime, and circumstances lead Susan to suspect that Georgie isn't quite the innocent simpleton he seems to be, putting herself (and her mother) in mortal danger.Although it is Mills who is arguably the 'star' of Twisted Nerve, it is Bennett who impresses the most, putting in a thoroughly chilling and utterly convincing performance throughout, both as Machiavellian Martin and gormless Georgie (the ease with which he switches between personas is superb).
The two biggest assets of "Twisted Nerve" are Bernard Herrmann's sensational score (right up there with his work for Hitchcock), and Hywel Bennett's masterfully measured performance as a man who puts on an innocent, childlike, slightly "backwards" interior but is actually a cold, cunning, calculating psychopath.
Hayley Mills is a doll and also puts in a strong performance, but a sinfully sexy Billie Whitelaw (cast as her mother, even though she is just 14 years older) pretty much steals her thunder!
Hywel Bennett plays a young man named Martin who falls for Haley Mills.
Twisted Nerve, something of a linking film between Michael Powell's Peeping Tom and Hitchcock's Frenzy, has floated about like a sick ghost for so long it's somehow managed to permeate the most seemingly unconnected crannies of pop culture.Singing tea cosy Badly Drawn Boy aka Damon Gough named his record label after the film, and more recently, its main theme, a haunting melody penned by legendary Hitchcock scorer Bernard Herrmann, was half-inched by Hollywood's pet magpie for his Kill Bill, Vol 1.
Penned by celebrated Peeping Tom scribe Leo Marks, Twisted Nerve, a fairly typical late-1960s psycho-thriller in The Collector mould, stars Hywel Bennett as Martin Durnley, a rich but damaged Oxford University drop-out with a mutual hatred of his banker stepfather, played by Frank Finlay.
Both films feature quiet, isolated psychopaths who hate their fathers; both Peeping Tom's Mark and Twisted Nerve's Martin end up at a boarding house, encountering young girls with absent fathers who live with their mothers.
In fact, the real winner of Twisted Nerve was undoubtedly the Master himself, poaching both Whitelaw and Foster (who practically reprises his role) for 1972's Frenzy, an infinitely more accomplished, tauter psycho-killer thriller.That said, Bennett is excellent as the gleefully deranged Martin, while Whitelaw even won a 1969 BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.