Plot: What’s it about?
In the realm of psychological thrillers, few stand out as being good. It’s hard to top The Silence of the Lambs, the standard that any film of this genre should live up to. And then there’s Twisted. It might sound intense and profound, but it’s a classic case of having all of the right elements there, but having nothing really click. Another recent movie that was of this same genre was “Taking Lives”. It wasn’t a great movie, but one I found more entertaining. Twisted was directed by Phillip Kaufman who directed The Right Stuff and Rising Sun, two very entertaining movies – though they were released twenty and ten years ago (respectively). There’s being smart and then there’s being too smart for your own good. And I’m afraid that this movie falls into the latter category. Murders, whodunits, memory lapses, etc. – these all sound like someone read “How to make a murder mystery movie” that they bought at Barnes & Noble. But before I bash the movie any more, I will say that there were some genuinely interesting moments in it, they’re just too few and far between. But as they say, let’s start at the beginning.
And what a beginning. For some reason I felt that when the movie started that I was coming in half-way into it. Maybe it was just me, but we join Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) as she’s celebrating her promotion to detective. Her parents died when she was young and she’s been raised by John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson), who conveniently happens to be the chief of the San Francisco Police. Jessica, young and cute, has a bad habit of having one too many, stumbling into a bar, picking up a guy and having sex with him (where are those women when I’m looking for them?). This wouldn’t be too big of a deal, but she blacks out from time to time and whenever she’s awakened, the guys start turning up dead. Naturally, the police put the clues together and all evidence points to her as the chief suspect. So right away, we have to ask ourselves – did she do it? Her caring partner (Andy Garcia), of course gives her the benefit of the doubt, but murders keep happening. And we know that sooner or later, her relationship with Mills will be challenged, even though he raised her as his own child. Sounds kind of “middle of the road”, doesn’t it? Now “Twisted” isn’t as bad as I made out, it’s just very formulaic. I suppose the old “check your brain at the door” when you watch this might apply here as well. If nothing else, stare at Ashley Judd for a 97 minutes.
Video: How does it look?
The last time I saw this movie was when it debuted on DVD, so to say that when I watched this was taking a fresh approach is somewhat of an understatement. To be fair the film does have a new HD master from a 4K scan of the original camera negative. And it shows. The 1.85:1 AVC HD encode gives us some good-looking vistas of San Francisco, though the film itself is on the darker side. I noticed a much more balanced contrast, increased detail and an overall much more theatrical look and feel to it. Flesh tones are warm and natural, showcasing whatever hairdo it is that Ashley Judd is sporting (some sort of pixie thing?). At any rate, it’s a wondrous step up from the original Paramount DVD.
Audio: How does it sound?
We find a fairly standard DTS HD Master Audio mix included and, for the most part, the dialogue-driven soundtrack sounds very clean and natural. Surround effects kick in a few times and though the overall nature of the score is rather robust, nothing really seemed to stand out as being great. Viewers won’t be disappointed as the reproduction here is good – not great just good.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Audio Commentary – Director Phillip Kaufman provides a decent track. For a single participant, he does tend to keep talking as those long spots of a director just watching the movie are kind of aggravating. It’s a good track and he does provide some insight.
- Creating a Twisted Web of Intrigue – Your standard EPK featurette containing interviews with the cast and crew. They talk of the movie, its psychological nature, etc.
- The Investigators – Clues to the Crime – We meet the film’s advisor (a SFPD inspector) and interviews with the Director of Police Psychology, also an advisor for the film.
- San Francisco – Scene of the Crime – This shows some of the locations that the movie was shot on and though I didn’t care for “Twisted”, I do like movies that take place in San Francisco, running seven minutes it’s fairly interesting.
- Cutting Room Floor: Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary – Ten extended/deleted scenes in total, though few offer any real insight into the movie. They can be played with optional audio commentary, which is a nice feature.
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
It’s been just a shade over two decades since I last saw this film. And my opinion still remains the same – it had potential (good cast, director, etc.) but the execution just wasn’t there. About the only thing redeeming about the film is the locale – I love San Francisco. To be fair, Kino’s new disc does give the film a much improved look, but aside from that I came up empty.
