Le trésor de San Lucas

Prolific film-maker of low-grade cheapies Albert Pyun provides the audience with a tolerably haywire, if blotchy little action adventure escapade with "Down Twisted" aka "Treasure of San Lucas". A billionaire art collector hires some international thieves to steal a religious artifact the crucible of San Lucas where they would switch it with a replica and fly the real one back to Los Angeles. However they find themselves being double crossed. Suddenly a waitress finds herself caught in the middle and being abducted when her roommate confesses that she and her boyfriend have gotten themselves mixed with these smugglers. This grungy low-rent Cannon fodder by Golan Globus might be remembered for Courtney Cox's debut performance, where she gets a bit of screen time in a throwaway part. But outside of that distraction, this is an agreeable outing with flavoured Mexican locations and amusingly fine performances by some Pyun regulars. Charles Rocket plays it suave as ever, still with a clumsy edge with the amount times his character gets knocked out. You know, for comedy purposes. Thom Mathews sticks out as the bleached blonde thief with a killer instinct and so does Linda Kerridge as a fellow partner in crime. Carry Lowell's unlucky waitress character Maxine who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time might have gotten on my nerves at times with her constant wailing, but no wonder with the amount of times she asked about the key that she doesn't have. Also showing up is Norbert Weisser and Nicholas Guest. Pyun's style is not fancy, but sturdily achieved with some hip touches as the eventful story's framework is a twisty chase formula with a contemporary noir quality and a snappy soundtrack back it up.

"Oh, the deal's going down... but it's going down twisted."

One of the best art theft genre movies ever made. Lots of back stabbings with double-crossings, triple-crossings, and quadruple-crossings galore.

However, it's a very 1980's movie, and didn't age well, which probably accounts for it's contemporary unpopularity. A remake would be immensely popular.

For years, the only way to see Down Twisted was to catch it late at night on Cinemax. The movie was not available on VHS (except for $100 rental store copies), and isn't currently available on DVD, so you'll have to beg AMC to broadcast it.

If you can find it, it's well worth the viewing.

For years, the only way to see Down Twisted was to catch it late at night on Cinemax. The movie was not available on VHS (except for $100 rental store copies), and isn't currently available on DVD, so you'll have to beg AMC to broadcast it.

Trapped in the convoluted aftermath of a double cross, kindly, overworked waitress Maxine's (Carey Lowell) decision to assist her sketchy roommate Michelle (Trudi Dochterman)rapidly descends her ordered life into a chaotic maelstrom of increasingly dangerous incident! B-maestro Albert Pyun's laudably energetic, downward spiralling crime thriller Down Twisted, while not often mentioned, happily remains a fun, quick-fire 80s time killer. Carey Lowell's naïve, yet plucky hard luck protagonist Maxine is hugely sympathetic, and the amusingly unsavoury group of ne'er-do-wells she brusingly encounters are frequently choice. I appreciated the film's zippy pace, Lowell's charming personality, and the splendidly boppy new wave'd synth score!

Great 80's verité (like Miami Vice). A low-budget but likeable caper movie.

A wealthy industrialist hires six thieves to steal a valuable relic from the fictional country of San Lucas just before the annual parade celebrating the relic. He gets double crossed by his own team of thieves, most notably Charles Rocket (SNL, Earth Girls Are Easy). Carey Lowell (Law & Order, Sleepless in Seattle), the baddest Bond Girl. is an innocent bystander dragged into the plot.

Keep an eye out for Courteney Cox at the beginning of the movie.