Twisted Nerve

Released - 1968
Genre - Horror, Drama, Thriller
Director - Roy Boulting
Starring - Hayley Mills, Hywell Bennett, Billie Whitelaw, Phyllis Calvert

This is a strange film about a troubled young man called Martin who has been raised by an overbearing mother and has an older brother with downs syndrome and a step father he resents. Martin begins to develop another personality and goes to live with the trusting Susan and her mother Joan under false pretences. Eventually his rage bubbles to the surface and Susan is forced to face the horrible truth about him. This was made before political correctness came into fashion and the script is littered with lines which would be taboo today. It was considered controversial for seeming to suggest a link between downs syndrome (which they repeatedly refer to as mongolism) and psychotic behaviour. That aside it is an effective character study with great performances from a quality cast and some well directed chilling scenes.

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