 Decemberdike
December 14th
Twisted Nerve (1968)
From British comedy legends the Boulting brothers comes this psychological thriller notorious for its use of Down syndrome as a reason for murder.
It stars Hywel Bennett as a disturbed young man, Martin, who pretends, under the name of Georgie, to be intellectually impaired in order to be near Susan (Hayley Mills) a girl with whom he has become infatuated. Somehow he moves into Susan's guest house run by her mother - an ever so slightly sleazy Billie Whitelaw - and as you can imagine things escalate from there on in.
At first i wasn't too sure if Bennet was miscast, but he seemed to grow into the role of Georgie and ended up giving a riveting performance. Mills and Whitelaw were both excellent throughout. Twisted Nerve isn't your typical proto slasher, it has a slow burning atmosphere that simmers with uneasy sexuality and dread and as a first time viewing is one of my Decemberdike highlights.
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December 15th
Prince of Darkness (1987)
As with the other John Carpenter film (The Fog) i've watched recently, Prince of Darkness is an old favourite and one i wanted to see how well the new Studio Canal print improves the film.
It does. Immensely. Even comparing the two dvd versions the new Studio Canal print is far superior. Crisper, brighter, richer colours and a hell of a lot sharper in clarity.
As for the film? For me it's classic unmissable Carpenter.
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