Twisted Nerve
Twisted Nerve
Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession.
Matthias_812 reviewedSeptember 17, 2025
Another late 60's British psychological thriller, seems like these were hot at this time. Twisted Nerve is one of the darker examples of the cycle and quite harrowing for the decade.
It’s not as lurid as the Italian gialli brewing just a few years later, nor as slick as Hollywood’s psycho-thrillers. The film uses exploitation of mental illness as a plot device that I'm sure had to be controversial of the time- even more so today. Unlike Hammer’s gothic monsters, Twisted Nerve suggests the real monster is the seemingly ordinary young man next door. Not as shocking a concept by today's standards.
Twisted Nerve may lack the polish of Psycho or the raw intensity of Peeping Tom, but it embodies a transitional moment when horror was shifting from suspense to more disturbing territory.