Twisted Nerve

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For the record label, see Twisted Nerve Records.

Twisted Nerve
Directed by	Roy Boulting
Produced by	John Boulting, George W. George, Frank Granat
Written by	Roy Boulting, Leo Marks, adapted from screenstory by Roger Marshall
Starring	Hywel Bennett, Haley Mills, Billie Whitelaw, Frank Finlay
Music by	Bernard Herrmann
Distributed by	British Lion Films National General Pictures
Release date(s)	February 26, 1969
Running time	118 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Twisted Nerve is a 1968 film about a disturbed young man, Martin, who pretends to be a mentally retarded child, George, in order to be near Susan, a girl he has become infatuated with. In covering his tracks he kills his father, Susan's mother and a boarding house guest. The film falls within crime/psycho drama genres. The film's style is very similar to that of the Giallo Horror films popularized by Dario Argento and Mario Brava in the succeeding decade.

1 Plot
2 Controversy
3 Trivia
4 External link

[edit] Plot

The film opens with Martin playing catch with his young mentally challenged brother Pete at a special school in London. We learn that Martin is but the only thread to his brothers family life, his father having died years before, and his mother having moved on to a new life with her new husband. Martin expresses his concern for his brother's well-being to the school's physician, who asserts his comfort with Pete's progress.

The film disolves to a hypnotic opening sequence to the tune of Bernard Hermann's classic theme. Then we see Martin in a toy store, where he is gazing at Susan, a soft blonde twenty year old who purchases a toy. She leaves, but Martin follows. As they leave the store, two undercover store detectives stop them and ask them to return to the store manager's office. There he questions them, and the detectives assert that Martin and Susan were working together to allow Martin to steal a small toy duck. Susan assures the three that she has never met Martin. The manager asks Susan for her address, she offers it, and Martin appears to make a mental note of this. When the store manager questions Martin, he turns soft, and presents his self as mentally challenged, refering to himself as "Georgie." Susan, sympathetic to the young man, pays for the toy. Sure that there has been a great misunderstanding, the store manager allows them to leave.

Martin returns home to his parents arguing in the parlor over his lack of interest in life . There is allusion to some perverse behavior he has exhibited, though this is not elaborated upon. He sneaks upstairs and shuts himself in his room. While he is secluded, Martin stares at him self in his full length mirror, bare chested, examining his frame. He seems to be dissapointed at his appearance, eventually punching and cracking the mirror in frustration. The camera pulls back to reveal a stack of body building magazines on Martin's dresser.

The following day, Martin goes to Susan's house and waits for her to return. She arrives with a young Indian man, who is later identified as Shashee. She drops Susan off, who thanks him, and she makes her way to the library, where she keeps an after school job. There she is peered at by two ten year old boys who are presented a book by her to read. When they leave, Martin approaches Susan who immediately recognizes him as 'Georgie.' He tells her that he followed her and then pays her back for the toy. Before he leaves, Martin, as Georgie, gets Susan to lend a book out to him about animals.

Following a heated conversation with his step-father, who insists Martin travel to Australia, Martin sets in motion a plan to leave his home and 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 allow him to 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 from her life. Meanwhile, Martin uses his new found identity to his advantage to seek out revenge on his step-father, who believes him to be in Australia. This series of decisions leads Martin to a self destructive path that destroys his life.

[edit] Controversy

The film is notorious for its use of Downs' syndrome, then referred to as mongolism, as a catalyst for Martin's psychopathic behavior. So much so that the film opens with a disclaimer to discount the connection between the chomosomal disorder and any such behavior.

[edit] Trivia

The whistling tune, composed by Bernard Herrmann, used in this film was later used again in Kill Bill Vol. 1 and whistled by Daryl Hannah's character Elle.