Twisted

• Director: Adam Holender
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Thriller
• Movie Type: Psychological Thriller
• Themes: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Evil Children
• Main Cast: Christian Slater
• Release Year: 1986
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Based on Jack Horrigan's play Children! Children!, Twisted is a thriller starring Christian Slater as a psychotic young adolescent who torments his new baby-sitter (Losi Smith) with electronics, swords and mind games. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Review

Young Christian Slater was acting on the ABC daytime drama Ryan's Hope at the time he won the lead in this fairly tense psycho-thriller based on Jack Horrigan's play Children! Children! It actually resembles The Bad Seed (also based on a stage play) in its tale of Mark Collins (Slater), a purely evil teenager who burns a cat, murders a school bully, and kills kittens and other animals. He's also rather clever, wiring his entire home for sound to eavesdrop on conversations or broadcast Hitler speeches and blare Nazi music throughout the house. When his bickering parents (Tandy Cronyn, Dan Ziskie) attend a party at a local country club, Mark and his sister (Brooke Tracy) are left in the care of a local socialite (Lois Smith) with a history of mental disturbances. That's when Mark decides to unleash his nasty bag of psychological tricks, attempting to frighten the poor woman into a mental collapse. The sadistic game quickly turns violent, and although the film's conclusion is rather unsatisfying, getting there is good, sick fun. Slater and Smith are both very convincing, and there are appearances from Dina Merrill, J.C. Quinn, and a young Mercedes Ruehl, as well, making it even more difficult to explain why the film sat around for so many years before being released to cash in on the press surrounding The Good Son. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Cast

Tandy Cronyn - Evelyn Collins; John Cunningham - Jim Kempler; Laurie Kennedy - Peg Yaeger; Dina Merrill - Nell Kempler; Noelle Parker - Jeanette; J.C. Quinn - Sheriff; Mercedes Ruehl - Cybelle; Christian Slater - Mark Collins; Lois Smith - Helen Giles; Karl Taylor - Williams; Brooke Tracy - Susan Collins; Dan Ziskie - Phillip Collins; Andre Morgan - Drug Emergency Man; Anthony Herrera - Orator; Dan Lounsberry - Chemistry Teacher; Richard Thomsen - Elsworth Peale; Ed Marshall - Karl Yaeger

Credit

Glenn Kershaw - Associate Producer, Lynn Kressel - Casting, George Brown - First Assistant Director, Adam Holender - Director, Michael Bacon - Composer (Music Score), Alexander Gruszynski - Cinematographer, Bruce Graham - Producer, Adam Holender - Producer, Bruce Graham - Screenwriter, Glenn Kershaw - Screenwriter, Jack Horrigan - Play Author

Similar Movies

The Bad Seed; Bloody Birthday; The Good Son

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