DramaThrillerHorror

Twisted Nerve

- Cleaver. Cleaver. Chop. Chop. First the mom and then the pop. Then we'll get the pretty girl. We'll get her right between the curl.

Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession.

Release Date : 1968-12-20

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Charter Film Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Susan Harper

Original Name : Hayley Mills

Gender : Female

Character Name : Martin (Georgie) Durnley

Original Name : Hywel Bennett

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joan Harper

Original Name : Billie Whitelaw

Gender : Female

Character Name : Henry Durnley

Original Name : Frank Finlay

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gerry Henderson

Original Name : Barry Foster

Gender : Male

Character Name : Enid Durnley

Original Name : Phyllis Calvert

Gender : Female

Character Name : Shashie Kadir

Original Name : Salmaan Peerzada

Gender : Male

Character Name : Philip Harvey

Original Name : Christian Roberts

Gender : Male

Character Name : Clarkie

Original Name : Gretchen Franklin

Gender : Female

Character Name : Superintendant Dakin

Original Name : Timothy West

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sir John Forrester

Original Name : Thorley Walters

Gender : Male

Character Name : Professor Fuller

Original Name : Russell Napier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Groom

Original Name : Timothy Bateson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor

Original Name : Basil Dignam

Gender : Male

Character Name : Store Detective

Original Name : Marianne Stone

Gender : Female

Character Name : 'Taffy' Evans

Original Name : Richard Davies

Gender : Male

Reviews

Wuchak

@Wuchak

2025-02-26

**_Hayley Mills in a late 60’s psychological drama-thriller_** A 22 years-old man (Hywel Bennett) cops a childlike personality to get close to a winsome library worker in London (Mills). He seeks to get his foot in the door of her mother’s boarding house. Havoc ensues. “Twisted Nerve” (1968) was influenced by Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (and even borrows Bernard Herrmann for the score), but it’s more dramatic and less over-the-top. Hayley was 21 years-old during shooting and thoroughly winsome, as usual, but she needed to eat some cheeseburgers. Meanwhile Billie Whitelaw is sultry as the mother in a subdued way. There’s a curious voiceover at the beginning that states: “there is no established scientific connection between mongolism (aka Down Syndrome) and psychotic or criminal behavior.” Yet this was unnecessary in light of the fact that the key character in the movie doesn’t have Down Syndrome. Secondly, so a relative of a person with Down Syndrome has psychological issues and commits a serious crime or two, so what? Who in their right mind would draw the conclusion that EVERYONE related to a person with Down Syndrome would be that way? Interesting tidbit: Tarantino borrowed the whistling tune from Herrmann’s score for “Kill Bill” (when Elle Driver impersonates a nurse) and “Death Proof” (heard as Abernathy Ross’ ringtone). It runs 1 hour, 58 minutes, and was shot in Twickenham, which is just southwest of London (I’m talking about the Harper house, which happened to be the residence of Hayley’s family). Studio stuff was done in Shepperton, which is about 5 miles southwest of there. GRADE: B-