TWISTED BRAIN (1974) * This could have been a pretty good movie with different actors and a different script. Well, considering that it was the '70s they should have had better costumes, and the lighting was bad, the locations should have been different, they shouldn't have had the janitor live in the school, there was no reason for that weird father/businessman interlude unless they were trying to make a social statement...in which case everything should have been different again. They fail miserably, entirely, at every efforts towards scary or atmospheric. There are several germs, no more than that, of an entertaining black comedy in there somewhere, and Larry N. Stouffer plays them surprisingly well. That being the case, their main function is to further dramatize the reality that the rest of the film is so stupid. The incidental music is tremendous, great, from stark underproduced drums to raging metal power chords to mega-macho funk. If it wasn't for the dialogue and B-movie screaming it would at least be a nice movie to watch with your eyes closed. Oh, yeah, another problem with the movie is that they have the wrong football team. The screen is littered with Dallas Cowboys, mainly impersonating policemen. I mean, what? They couldn't afford the Dolphins or the Jets? Even if they were limited to Cowboys, the selections were bad. It was cool seeing Calvin Hill, but why are we stuck with all those other doofuses instead of Duane Thomas or Charlie Waters? Why couldn't Roger Staubach have been an evil henchman of some sort, with lots of chains and plaid pants? "Mean" Joe Greene makes the big sack at the end, and the Steelers have beat the Cowboys once again (damn, I made a lot on those games, for a kid).
back to Brilliant Observations on 1776 Films home
go back home, or send me email
no more reviews! I want to buy your novel!