Review of Twisted Nerve (1968) by Eric B — 07 Jan 2012

So, a shy mama's boy turns out to be a psychopathic killer. Sound familiar? Sure, "Twisted Nerve" is influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," but this is no cheap clone. It's a genuinely disturbing thriller on its own terms.

Martin Durnley (twitchy Hywel Bennett) is an idle child of privilege, unable to settle on a life path. His mother indulges him, but his stepfather is impatient with his aimlessness. Meanwhile, his mentally disabled brother (somewhat callously) has been sent to a care facility elsewhere.

When Martin has a chance meeting with a beautiful library clerk (Hayley Mills), he feigns being a childlike simpleton to win her empathy. He hatches a wicked scheme, convincing his parents that he's away in Paris while simultaneously worming his way into the home of Mills and her wealthy family. Too bad he fails to mention his murderous tendencies to these new friends.

"Twisted Nerve" is a surprisingly sexy film, thanks to the fetching Mills (the ultimate virginal fantasy) and Billie Whitelaw's smoldering performance as Mills' randy mother. Barry Foster also has a ball playing the mother's leering, parasitic suitor. The cast's weakest link is unfortunately its star, but Martin is such an unsubtle character that Bennett's abilities aren't much challenged.

The bonus treat is composer Bernard Herrmann's maniacal whistling theme, which is so indelible that Quentin Tarantino borrowed it for "Kill Bill" decades later.

I was grinning throughout the whole film, relishing my mounting discomfort and wondering where the story would head. It's just too bad the movie's reputation is sullied by its distasteful stigmatization of "mongoloids," because there wasn't a desperate need to explain Martin's malady anyway. Some people are just born crazy -- leave it at that. And was that late bedpan gag really necessary?