L'Ange meurtrier

Like many of the other reviewers, I remembered bits and pieces of this film from my adolescent years(ok maybe 11-13). I finally tracked down a copy and the film came back to me as I watched it. The guinea pig killed with broken glass and squealing, the English teacher with the paper cutter, the merciless jocks, and so on rushed to my brain and brought back that late evening in the 70s when I saw this film for the first time. The film is by no means great or even good, yet something in it makes it so memorable to those of us writing here. I am not sure what that quality is - maybe we see ourselves in this protagonist in small pieces. I don't want to get too psychological here, but it must be something about the film. The film is about a young man picked on by all who loves biology and the experiments he has been working on all summer. Everyone at this school..and I mean everyone except a young girl that admires the young man for his intellect...is cruel, sadistic, and totally uncharacteristic of what you would find in teachers and the like. He experiences one shocking mistreatment after another, until forced to drink a serum he has been working on, becomes a Hyde-like character that avenges himself for all the wrongs redressed towards him by all his enemies. The film is very cheaply made...very dark in most places, and it is very gory for its time, which also might explain why it is memorable. I liked the film, defects notwithstanding.

Wow... Reading through these comments is giving me goose bumps! For years, no one I asked had ever seen (or heard of) this nasty little movie, but now I see that I am not alone after all!

My experience of Twisted Brain is nearly identical to many others here: I was 11 years old when my best friend and I saw this movie on Pittsburgh, PA's Chiller Theater. Ever since that night, I have never looked at a paper-cutter or a pair of cleats the same way.

As many of you have said, there is something about this gritty, low-budget shocker that just sticks with you. It's not that this is a good movie, but obviously it had a lasting impression on a whole generation of us. Even now, I can remember the grainy film and cheesetastic music, the vat of acid, the brutal murders. I will never forget that first viewing of this film.

I can't say that I recommend it, exactly. It may be a you-had-to-be-there kind of experience for those of us who saw it back in the day, and I'm sure Twisted Brain may not hold up well after all these years. I'm just really glad to read that so many others had the same experience of it that I did.

Jason Atwood does'nt know what he's talking about! Lots of people would agree that this is a very good movie. (about the scenes being too dark,I could see them fine,has'nt he heard of a brightness dial!) I do admit that most of the people who like this film think of what they thought of it when they saw it as kids on late night tv. I see movies on video store shelves all the time that are totally stupid and I can't say that about this one. This was the goriest movie I could find on network tv. A guys face melting off after being dipped in acid,and a guy getting brutally stomped to death with steel baseball cleets are a few things to look for in this movie! The acting is'nt too bad either,you kind of get to feel bad for the main character,its cool to see him get his revenge. (even though he does go a little overboard) I'd like to see this movie make a comeback! If anybody else remembers this movie,write a review,I'd like to see what you think.

Interesting coincidence between myself and many of the reviewers who were scared by this movie; we were all 11 or younger when we saw it, and it was always on late night t.v.! There are two reasons for this; irresponsible parents letting us watch t.v. alone that late, and irresponsible t.v. stations showing violence this graphic, even late at night. The movie, shot on dark 16 mm, depicts scenes of fingers graphically sliced off by paper cutters, teenage students savagely beaten by psychotic janitors, a janitor who gets dissolved by acid, graphic shots of a sadistic coach being shredded by the lead character wearing cleats, and much, much more. There is a curious reality to these scenes, lent to it by the matter-of-fact grittiness and low-budget camerawork; they are shot with a definite leaning toward sadism, and it is curious this was allowed on network t.v. even late at night in the mid-seventies. Everyone in this movie, save for a few characters, is sadistic. The lead character suffers a particularly brutal death, as his angelic girlfriend watches, helpless to save him. The end. Not a view of the world you want your ten year-old kid watching. (Though today's ten year-olds are completing their collection of serial-killer trading cards.)

I saw this again years later, and rather than being scared, was simply depressed by the mean-spiritedness of the film and actually annoyed at the picked-on "sympathetic" lead character; had this kid ever heard of changing schools? Of course this is the kind of setting where there is only one high school in a hundred miles.

The acting is unbelievably bad, save for the title actor, and Austin Stoker, who acts as if he's in a better movie than he is as the police detective. One gets the feeling that he had some control over which scenes he appeared in (his character follows up after the sickening scenes of violence, but does not appear in them), and that he must have known at some point that this movie wasn't going to propel his career upwards. It's interesting how many actors (excluding Stoker) in this film never made another one, including the lead. One wonders why? Three out of ten stars.

What can I say, my friend Jason H. was able to scare me by simply walking pigeon-toed towards me and repeating..."Vernon, VERNON...TWISTED BRAIN!!!!" I saw this on 'Son-of-Chill Theater' when I was about in 1st grade. Christ it's no friggin' wonder why I was scared to go to bed alone, and coincidentally why I was so mean to nerds who did poorly in science! It was a great movie, although I'm afraid to let memory mix with reality by actually seeing it!! The Face Stomping scene was brutal, but it was weird how I still felt sorry for the 'Twisted Geek'.~Lance