This movie had one of the best whistle in any movie I've seen.The story is about psychosis, Hayley Mills plays Susan Harper, a young student who tries to help a rich, emotionally ill and sinister young man, Martin Durnley (Hywel Bennett). Martin is a schizophrenic who assumes the personality of a six-year-old boy when he is in his "nice" phase. Susan talks a store manager out of pressing charges against Martin after he steals a toy duck. Martin wants to take the toy to his mongoloid brother, who is in an institution. Martin's stepfather, Henry (Frank Finlay), enraged by his shoplifting, evicts Martin despite the pleas of his mother, Enid (Phyllis Calvert). Martin, again acting like a young child, is taken in by Susan's mother, Joan Harper (Billie Whitelaw), who runs a boarding house.Do you that scene from Kill Bill where Elle Driver is walking down the corridor in the hospital and she starts whistling that awesome but menacing whistle, yeah do you know that first came from? yep this movie and that's the only reason I checked it out because of that, after seeing the movie I can say that this a pretty damn good horror movie and the most overlooked horror movie I've seen.Hayley Mills as the main psychopath of the movie dose a brilliant and a menacing little creep that got under my skin, because Martin or George (The main character psychopath) acts like a man child as he acts like he hasn't grown up yet and everyone treats him like a child, but really his a pure psycho and that pretty much explains why he acts like a little kid just to act innocent and fool everyone. Now when I think about it it's kind of nerving that this guy acts like this and that just add to unsettling nature of are main killer and Hayley Mills did a outstanding performance playing this character.The director of the movie Roy Boulting which this is my first movie that he directed that I've seen and Roy Boulting did great behind the camera filming the unsettling and the uncomfortable scene where Martin was in and the director really set the scene very well. He made this movie look like if Alfred Hitchcock directed it. The rest of the cast did fine in they roles, Martin was a interesting psychopath and the ending to the movie was even more uncomfortable and I think that's what made this movie stand out and doesn't hold anything back and just goes for it.Now for problems with the movie: Some of the writing in the movie was a bit well how can I say it, oh yeah wooden and corny. Some of the other characters in the movie I didn't really care about to be honest, I only cared about Martin the killer because well he's so messed up that makes him more interesting.Overall Twisted Nerve is a good overlooked horror movie that at times felt like a Alfred Hitchcock film at times.

www.eattheblinds.comI didn't grow up in an era where the term "mongoloid" was used in polite circles; I grew up in the cultural wasteland where delightfully offensive indiscretions died a quick and silent death. Watching a movie made before this time is often the cure, one that excites the mind in unexpected ways.1968's Twisted Nerve pushes all the wrong buttons, with an unapologetically blunt commentary on hot-button topics such as racism, homosexuality, classism, colonialism, sexual perversion and psychotic behavior. Working against the intelligence of TN's screenplay is its pseudo-science prognosticating the doomed fates of those born in a womb sullied by Mongolism. Inaccurate or not, it is a fun possibility to entertain (since this is a movie, after all...not a documentary). Perhaps if the PC police were told this film was Sci-Fi horror, TN would have found a wider audience instead of remaining a cult gem cherished by few.Full of visual references to Hitchcock and an unforgettable score by Bernard Herrmann, Twisted Nerve watches like one of Hitch's bastard children, a nasty oddity the Master must have been proud to have inspired.

Clearly this production stepped on some sensitive toes around the time of its release, as it opens with two separate statements – one spoken and one written – assuring us there's absolutely no scientifically proved evidence that there might be a link between Mongolism and criminal behavior. It's of course a very provocative and courageous assumption to revolve a psycho-thriller on, especially during the late 60's and even more so with the close-minded and easily offended board of censorship in Britain around that time. No wonder "Twisted Nerve" rapidly grew out to become a controversial and harshly hated gem that only just recently got put back into the spotlights, partly thanks to the fancy DVD-edition and partly because no less than Quentin Tarantino used the catchy and bone-chilling theme whistle song for his own already classic 2004 epic "Kill Bill". "Twisted Nerve" is definitely one of the most unique and original psycho-thrillers ever made; on par with that other legendary British cult-shocker "Peeping Tom" and easily several classes above all the rest in its genre. Martin is a young schizophrenic (or is he?) who obtains whatever he desires by posing (or actually being?) as Georgie; an intellectually underdeveloped but well-mannered and helpful boy. As the arrogant Martin, he's kicked out of the parental house by his dominant stepfather, but as the innocent Georgie he's taken in by the cherubic Susan and her mother who run a boarding house just outside of London. From inside this safe environment, Martin can plot a fiendish revenge against his stepfather and simultaneously become an essential part in the life of the unsuspecting Susan. The extremely intelligent script – courtesy of Leo Marks and director Roy Boulting himself – comes up with what is pretty much the perfect murder (even more waterproof than Alfred Hitchcock could ever come up with) and it's so courageously twisted and blunt that the film is guaranteed to appeal to fans of controversial cinema. Quite late in the film, there's a lecture about the connection between criminal tendencies and an "error" in the hereditary chromosomes' structure that will make you wonder how come an angry crowd of offended Brits didn't burn all existing copies on a big pile. There's more controversial stuff going on as well, like the suggestive sexual tension between a mature woman (Billie Whitelaw is a stupendous role) and the allegedly mentally handicapped boy, a demented showcasing of motherly love and even the dubious sexual preference of Martin's character itself. Martin slash Georgie is a pretty petrifying character, constantly altering his behavior between a dangerous delinquent and a handsome young lad with the intellectual capacities of a 6-year-old. Hywell Bennett's performance ranks amongst the best ones ever and the indescribably ravishing Hayley Mills is equally astonishing as Susan. There's very little graphic violence shown on screen, but in the case of this film it's definitely the uncanny ambiance and the carefully drawn characterizations that will cause the hairs in the back of your neck to rise.

Along with "Peeping Tom" this film is sometimes cited as the British version of "Psycho". But while "Peeping Tom" really deserves that compliment, this film is more of a British version of "The Bad Seed" (and, if anything, is even more ridiculous). Like that movie, it tries to explain psychopathic behavior with half-baked genetic theories and it managed to offend the families of mongoloids everywhere by implying that their normal siblings were prone to become serial killers.There are really two main problems with this movie: it's too sleazy for Haley Mills fans and it's not nearly sleazy enough for horror movie fans. I can't really say I've seen a Hayley Mill's movie (although maybe I passed out once watching "The Trouble with Angels" on TV). She is pretty appealing here--she's definitely very cute as your typical 20-year-old British bird in a mini-skirt in 1960's London. She's doesn't do much more than provide eye candy though and she seems strangely innocent and out of place for the hedonistic "Swinging London" era. Billie Whitelaw is OK as her mother, who runs a boarding house and has a strange new tenant who might be a serial killer. The horror elements are virtually non-existent, however. There are no axe murders as the tagline seems to claim, or much violence at all for that matter. This movie is mostly what you call psychological horror--and not in a good way.If you want to see a good 60's British psycho movie try "Peeping Tom". If you want to see a wholesome young actress being debauched and denuded in a seedy horror movie try "The Dunwich Horror" with Sandra Dee. There's just not a lot to recommend in this one.