''Twisted'' is a 1986

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

and

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

directed by Adam Holender and starring Christian Slater,

Lois Smith Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American character actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film '' East of Eden'', and later played supporting roles in a number of movies ...

, and Tandy Cronyn. The screenplay by Christopher Coppola and Nick Vallelonga is based on Jack Horrigan's play ''Children! Children!'', which ran one night on Broadway in 1972.

Plot

One evening, the Collins, Phillip and Evelyn, a married couple with two children, discover their maid, Mrs. Murdock, dead at the end of their steps; her neck is broken. Evidently, she had an accident; now they need a new babysitter for an upcoming party. The sensible Helen meets little Susan Collins at the discount market and likes her, so she offers to do the job. She does not know Susan's teenage brother Mark ( Christian Slater): technically skilled and good in school, but restive and cunning. Mark also listens regularly to German marching music from the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. As soon as the parents have left, he psychologically terrorizes Helen and his sister with electronic tricks. Williams (Karl Taylor), a school jock whom Mark burned earlier in science class, comes to the Collins home out for revenge; Mark kills him with a fencing sword. Ultimately, Mark himself is killed when Helen, defending herself, knocks him onto his spiked German helmet. Mark's parents come home to find the house in shambles; Evelyn puts the blame on Helen and tries to have her arrested, unaware that Mark lies dead upstairs. Phillip has already looked in their children's rooms, presumably finding Mark's body, but instead offers Helen a ride home. Helen simply turns down the offer and drives back home herself, with Phillip refusing to have her arrested immediately and suggesting they clean up the house. Secretly, Susan dons her late brother's glasses and proceeds to listen to his

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

music and the cycle begins anew.

Cast

* Christian Slater as Mark Collins *

as Helen Giles *Tandy Cronyn as Evelyn Collins * Dan Ziskie as Phillip Collins * Brooke Tracy as Susan Collins * Dina Merrill as Nell Kempler

External links

* * * * 1986 films 1986 horror films 1980s psychological thriller films American psychological horror films 1980s psychological horror films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{1980s-horror-film-stub