Twisted Nightmare (1987) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A group of adults win a weekend pass to the summer camp that they once attended when they were younger. Once there the party starts but before long a death from their past will come back to kill them one by one.TWISTED NIGHTMARE is a slasher film that got a limited theatrically release before hitting VHS where it became a minor cult favorite. The film pretty much went away for a while but it has slowly picked up another cult following thanks to it simply being a slasher as well as it being shot at the same place that Friday THE 13TH PART III was. The barn and house from that Jason movie is used here so it is pretty cool getting to see the same location used.As far as the actual film goes, look, you're dealing with a low-budget horror movie that was made by people just trying to make some money. The Slasher 101 Handbook is pretty much followed throughout as we get the backstory, we get the camp setting, the partying, the nudity and of course a mysterious old man and several bloody deaths. There's obviously nothing new or original here but for the most part it kept me entertained. If anything director Paul Hunt at least got some atmosphere out of the material, which is a plus.The death scenes are decent for what they are as there is at least some blood being thrown around. If nudity is your thing then you'll be happy to know that several of the young ladies here get totally naked. The one major problem with the film is the cinematography. The film's lighting was so poor that often times the scenes are beyond dark. I'm sure this issue was even worse for those watching this on a bootleg or VHS. The Blu-ray has at least been cleaned up but it's still quite dark due to the way the film was shot.

"Twisted Nightmare" won't pull out any surprises as it's a deranged, if run-of-a-mill camp-based slasher, but it does have some interesting novelties ranging from the fact it was filmed around the same time as "Friday the 13th Part 3" (to only be released a couple years later) and that in was shot in the same area as that film too. Those would remember the barn of doom (and again it seems to hold some sort of attraction).A group of old friends are mysteriously invited back to Camp Paradise, but no one has been there since the strange death of Matthew (a simple kid who was picked on by them). His death was unexplainable as he was turned into a scorching human torch and the body was never found. So the friends are together again along with Matthew's sister, but not too soon one-by-one the group start getting picked off.For being a low-end slasher it has its recycled conventions, but it was a competently done (on the technical side) for what it is. A quickie, but well delivered slasher that reminded me of a cheaper version of woodland slashers "The Burning" and "Madman". The killer is pretty much in the same mould as "Madman" --- an unstoppable scruffy brute that's disfigured and who likes to growl. The story is old-hat (despite an interesting back-story about how the campsite is cursed) with a sluggish beginning before getting on with things before leading onto a insanely predictable revelation, the forced dialogues are lame and the acting for most part is bad (leaden or ripe). However it does bestow a healthy body count throws about the nudity quite freely and has its nasty moments. Junky and cheesy, but entertaining. Director Peter Hunt uses the locations rather well, but it seems to work better during the night sequences with the cat and mouse chases between the bulky killer and self-obsessed victims. There are some atmospheric touches with beaming blue lighting and mist, but even then the vision can become quite murky and editing rather jerky (like the first death sequence). The death scenes are hit or miss, some coming off while others not so. Moments do become laughable, like the use of slow-motion. The music is an unhinged, but mangled mixture sounding ominous but then breaking into something sunny and bright.

Strictly speaking in terms of 80's slashers, "Twisted Nightmare" really isn't as bad as some of my fellow reviewers make it out to be. Admittedly the plot is overly simplistic, the pacing is a bit slow and the acting performances are humiliatingly bad, but there are also a handful of good aspects. The body count, for example, is quite high (around 12) for a low-budget slasher and practically all the female cast members go topless. And yes, they're all quite pretty. The murder sequences are also reasonably gruesome and the set pieces are guaranteed to be good as well, since the film used the exact same sets as one of the earlier "Friday the 13th" sequels. Two years after her brother died in a horrible camping accident, Laura and all of her high school friends return to the Camp Paradise site where they used to spend all their holidays together. The site is build on an ancient Indian burial ground, however, and Laura's mentally retarded brother died because he wandered off in the barn all by himself and spontaneously caught fire. On their first night already, some members of the group encounter a savage and forceful beast that clearly intends to slaughter the entire gang. Luckily the script doesn't elaborate too much on the whole Indian curse/desecrated burial ground aspect, because I'm quite allergic to Indian spells and gibberish after too many movies like "The Dark Power", "Poltergeist" etc… In fact, the script doesn't elaborate too much on anything. With all the butchering going on, there isn't much time left for plot development, tension building or surprise twists. The only sub plot centers on the "rescue attempt" of the local Sheriff who looks approximately 105 years of age. The acting performances are hilariously bad! Especially the beefcake Asia guy and the arrogant mustache bloke easily rank among the worst slasher victims in 80's horror history. "Twisted Nightmare" honestly isn't a complete waste of time. It's reminiscent to decent slashers like "The Burning", "Night of the Demon", "Madman" and it features a really cool axe-through-back-of- the-head kill.PS: the cover illustration on the IMDb page is NOT from "Twisted Nightmare", but from some David DeCoteau flick about an Aztec Mummmy

We don't look for great scripts or direction with a slasher movie, but this movie's screenplay and direction are SO BAD, it's enough to change your opinion and make you seek out an art movie instead. Sure, there's a big body count, but the killings for the most part are either not explicit, or too dark to see. In fact, almost all of the non-slasher scenes are equally as dark! There are also some really big holes in the script that will even have the most forgiving fan of slashers groaning in disbelief. It's no wonder this movie was shelved for five years, then dumped quietly on video.