''Twister's Revenge!'' is a 1988 American

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by

Bill Rebane Bill Rebane (born February 8, 1937) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for low budget movies such as '' Monster a Go-Go'' and '' The Giant Spider Invasion''. Rebane also ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1 ...

and released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

Plot

Three bumbling criminals have repeatedly tried to steal the computerized control system of Mr. Twister, a talking

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...

with a mind of its own. They make one last attempt with an

M60 tank The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially ...

Cast

*Dean West as Dave *Meredith Orr as Sherry * David Alan Smith as Kelly *R. Richardson Luka as Bear *Jay Gjernes as Dutch *Tena Murray as Lulu *William Dexter as Kelly's Father (credited as Bill Dexter) *J. Worthington Kratz as Kelly's Mother *Elizabeth Gray as Love Bird Singer *Angailica as Love Bird Dancer (credited as Angel Rebane) Featured Monster Truck show in Ionia, Michigan featured the following drivers as themselves: *Rob Fuchs, driving First Blood *Mark Bendler, driving Kodiak *Jim Miller, driving Barbarian *Allen Pezo, driving Lone Eagle

Production

''Twister's Revenge!'' was filmed in

Gleason, Wisconsin Gleason is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States. The community is situated on Wisconsin Highway 17 northeast of Merrill, in the town of Russell. Gleason has a post office with ZIP Code 54435. The Estonian E ...

at a cost of $95,000. Rebane said that "We had a strong lead actor

ean West Ean may refer to: People * Ean Campbell (1856–1921), Scottish Anglican cleric, bishop of Glasgow and Galloway * Ean Elliot Clevenger, American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter * Ean Evans (1960–2009), bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd f ...

for "Twister's Revenge" but the girl — the lead actress — eredith Orrwas very weak." Mr. Twister was a custom-made

belonging to a local man, David Staszak. Its computer control system included an AT&T PC 6300.

Release

''Twister's Revenge!'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

by Video First Entertainment of

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Chippewa Falls () is a city located on the Chippewa River (Wisconsin), Chippewa River in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,731 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the ...

in 1988. It was also released in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, under the title ''Ein Supertruck auf Gangsterjagd!'' ("A Supertruck on a Gangster-Hunt!") and in Japan. It was rereleased by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2006, as part of their "Drive-in Movie Classics" series.

Reviews

1000 Misspent Hours and Counting awarded the film 2½ stars, noting that Mr. Twister's onboard AI was clearly a ripoff of ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American media franchise, entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three-television series: the original ''Knight Rider (1982 TV series), Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequ ...

'''s

KITT Kitt may refer to: People * Kitt (surname) * Kitt O'Brien (born 1990), American football player * Kitt Wakeley, American composer, songwriter, musician and music producer Places * Kitt Peak, a mountain in Arizona Radio stations * KITT (FM), li ...

and saying that the film had a "demented mismatch between

tone Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...

and subject matter. The very idea of a ''funny'' vigilante revenge film is bizarre. I hasten to emphasize that ''Twister’s Revenge!'' is not a parody of ''Death Wish'' wannabes, but rather a ''Death Wish'' wannabe that is also a comedy." Josiah Chiappelli gave the film 3/5 on his "Hipster Holy Grail" series. ''Twister's Revenge!'' was featured on a 2019 episode of

RedLetterMedia Red Letter Media, LLC is an American film and video production company operated by independent filmmakers Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans. It was formed by Stoklasa in 2004 while he was living in the Scottsdale section of Ashburn, Chica ...

's "Best of the Worst" series.

References

External links

* * {{Bill Rebane 1987 films 1980s crime comedy films American exploitation films 1987 comedy films 1988 comedy films 1988 films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films shot in Wisconsin English-language crime comedy films