Twixt (2012)

(aka Twixt Peaks)
Release Date: On Blu-ray now (Sweden), rest of the world... ?
Country: USA
Written & Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola.
Starring: Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chapling and Joanne Whalley (Kilmer.)

The good news is that if you live in Sweden, or have a region-free Blu-ray player you can finally see Francis Ford Coppola's Twixt. If not, then the Swede's have a leg up on you!

This is why we own region-free Blu-ray players. They're all kinds of handy.

As for the film itself... well, it's definitely somewhere twixt good and bad.

At this point in his career, Francis Ford Coppola has more than earned the right to make whatever the hell he feels like making. Not only is he from our hometown, but the man has given us Godfathers, Conversations, Apocalypse's, Outsiders, Fish and Dracul... he's more than made his bones.

That being said, Twixt is an odd, sparse film. Coppola based the movie in part on a dream he had, and knowing that makes it all make much more sense. Like most dreams, Twixt evokes some interesting visuals and brings forth different emotions, but makes very little linear sense. At times it feels like a cheap audition reel while at others it feels like Coppola at his best.

Francis Ford Coppola is old and might be insane, Val Kilmer is old and well into the "Direct to DVD" phase of his career, and Bruce Dern is literally 112 years old... so I ask... what in the hell is going on in this picture?

Val Kilmer plays a writer on a tour supporting his latest book. He stops off in a small town which seems to be haunted, and also seems to be stuck in a wave of kitsch that feels reminiscent of Twin Peaks. As luck would have it, a young local girl was recently found murdered, and Kilmer figures that investigating the crime might give him some much needed inspiration for his new book. Then there's something about a curse and some poisoned Kool-Aid, a creepy pedophile and the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe. I'm not even sure what just happened.

 "No, I am not Steven Seagal!"

Twixt appears to be an extremely personal film for Coppola. Is it good? Kinda. It feels like a rough cut of a movie that looks like its going to be really good, but that never gets the editing it so badly needs. It really does feel a bit like Twin Peaks, if Twin Peaks were more Gothic and made less sense. Yeah, it feels much more like David Lynch is behind the camera here than Francis Ford. We do have to say that the two scenes utilizing 3D were pretty damned good though.

There are some great moments of horror goodness strewn throughout this movie. It's got scenes involving Vampires Ghosts and a child murderer causing havoc, all of which work pretty well. Even Edgar Allen Poe shows up. Sounds great, right? Well, mostly. We wish Coppola would have stuck with the horror elements far more than he did, as the movie would have been better off for it.

We Know, Val. We know.

If Coppola's goal was to film a dream in all of its nonsensical being, then this film is a masterpiece. If his goal was to make a compelling movie based on a dream he once had, then not so much. My guess is that he left the film with an unedited and uneven feel to it to resemble a dream as closely as possible, but I think that in the end it hurts more than helps. Worth a watch, Twixt is an interesting if not coherent movie that some genre fans may end up loving. For us, a middle of the road venture.

Twixt stars two girls who are under 18 and Joanne Whalley, and I am not posting a picture of Val Kilmer's ex-wife here... so here you go Ladies and Gay Gentlemen, enjoy some sweaty, shirtless Val Kilmer! You're welcome.