13 Nights of Shocktober: Twixt (2011)

 by A.J.

Night 8: Ghost Story Night

“Our work must be the grave that we prepare for its lovely tenant.”

Twixt (2011)

My podcast The Directors’ Wall, co-hosted by Bryan Connolly, recently wrapped up season 2, covering the career of Francis Ford Coppola and we ended on a high note with Coppola’s most recently released film, Twixt, which we both enjoyed very much. We also reviewed Coppola’s re-edit titled B’twixt Now and Sunrise: The Authentic Cut. While both begin the same, major changes to the ending give B’twixt a more open ended “arthouse” conclusion (or lack thereof). The emphasis is on the main character’s emotional journey to confront the tragedy in his past and the horror plot is downplayed. Coppola’s original cut of Twixt, we both agreed, captures the character’s emotional journey while also being a lively and fun horror movie. Currently, only B’twixt is available to stream, but Twixt, if you can find it, is the version we both recommend. Our discussion contains major spoilers, but if you don’t mind (or care) or think it might peak your interest please give it a listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

A brief spoiler-free summary and review:

Released in 2011, Twixt marked Coppola’s return to the horror genre for the first time since Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992. Twixt tells the tale of third-rate horror novelist Hall Baltimore, played by Val Kilmer, who stops on his book tour in a small town with a dark past and a recent mysterious murder. The local sheriff, played by Bruce Dern, thinks that the murder is tied to a group of goth teens, led by Alden Ehrenreich, who he believes are vampires, and wants to collaborate with Hall on a book about the murder. Hall is desperately in need of money, so he reluctantly agrees. 

Coppola effectively creates an eerie atmosphere through striking dream sequences, encounters with strange characters, and touches like the body in the morgue with a giant stake still stuck in it and the seven-faced clock tower that tells seven different times. The dream sequences are what really make the movie. They are not so much in black and white as they are drained of color, except for certain things like a red carpet or yellow lantern. In these dreams Hall wanders in the woods and meets V (Elle Fanning), a ghost and victim of the long ago murders. In the dreams Hall is also visited by Edgar Allan Poe, played wonderfully by Ben Chaplin, who discusses writing techniques, the nature of tragedy and melancholy, and also reveals the secrets of the terrible murders that happened in the town decades before. There are also some funny moments like Hall’s video calls to his wife and then his publisher and an out of control Ouija board session. These scenes add in some comedy without turning the movie into a horror-comedy. Twixt is not especially violent and not especially scary, but it is eerie and creepy and entertaining and the kind of movie you should settle in with on a Shocktober night.

Review: Twixt

by A.J.

If you look at his career as a whole, it appears that Francis Ford Coppola is an indie director that has also just happened to have made some of the most groundbreaking and noteworthy movies of all time. The film he directed prior to The Godfather, was a small scale road movie about a housewife who runs away from her home and husband called The Rain People. Along the way she picks up a brain damaged football player. It’s a movie very much in line with the times (the late 60’s), and also in line some of the smaller movies spread throughout Coppola’s filmography. Some of those films are good, some not so good. The Rain People moves at about the same slow-but-steady pace as The Godfather, but unfortunately has far less interesting subject matter and characters.

Francis Ford Coppola’s success with his vineyard has afforded him the luxury of making the films he wants to make, when he wants to make them, with little or no outside interference. He has made only 3 movies since beginning of this century. Despite the big name behind the camera, each of those films easily qualifies as an “indie film.” The most recent of those is Twixt, his first horror movie since 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Twixt played at film festivals with some sequences in 3-D; outside of those festivals it fell way under the radar. However, Twixt should not be entirely dismissed.

Twixt tells the tale of third rate horror novelist Hall Baltimore, played by Val Kilmer, who, while on a book tour, stops in a small town with a dark past and a recent mysterious murder. The local sheriff, played by Bruce Dern, thinks that the young murder victim (Elle Fanning) is tied into the town’s past, the band of Goth teens that live across the lake, and vampires. He also thinks it’d be a great idea for a book. Hall reluctantly agrees to co-write the book with the sheriff.

I’m a big fan of Coppola’s version of Dracula which was heavy on mood and practical visual effects. Twixt is also heavy on eerie mood and the visual effects, which are no doubt digital, but are used in just the right way at just the right time. The big highlight is the series of dreams Hall has in which he and Edgar Allen Poe discuss the art of crafting a story and Poe reveals to Hall the town’s past. Another highlight is Val Kilmer running through a series of impressions while trying to come up with a first line for his new novel.

Coppola came up with the idea for this movie after he had a dream not unlike the one Kilmer’s character has; and this movie does feel like something someone dreamed up and then threw together over a weekend or two. There is obvious skill and style from the first shot to the last, but unfortunately the story is only as thin as a dream and doesn’t quite live up to the craft put into the film. Nevertheless, Twixt still has enough interesting elements and stunning visuals to make it worth watching late one night.