Plot
Martin plays catch with his older brother Pete, who has learning difficulties and has been sent to live in a special boarding school in London, by their mother. Martin is the only remaining figure in Pete's family life; their father died years before and their mother has a new life with her new husband, a wealthy banker. The school's physician believes that Pete cannot be expected to live much longer.
In a shop, Martin sees Susan purchase a toy. As she leaves, Martin follows after having pocketed a toy duck. Two store detectives ask them to return to the manager's office. The detectives assert that Martin and Susan were working together to steal the toy. Susan says she has never met Martin.
When questioned by the manager, Martin presents himself as mentally challenged, and calls himself "Georgie". Now disbelieving in a link between them, the manager asks Susan for her address, and Martin makes a mental note when she offers it. Sympathetic to him, Susan pays for Martin's toy.
Martin returns home and finds his parents arguing in the parlour, over his lack of interest in life, his unusual behaviour and the duck incident. In his room, now behaving as "Georgie", he rocks in a rocking chair while smiling in the mirror and caressing a stuffed animal. The rocking motion of the chair is smashing a photo of his stepfather.
The next day, Susan goes to the library, where she keeps an after-school job. Martin approaches Susan, who recognises him as Georgie. Martin says that he followed her, and pays her back for the toy. Before leaving, Martin gets Susan to lend him The Jungle Book.
Martin has a dispute with his stepfather, who insists he travel to Australia. Martin refuses and returns to his room. Martin stares in the mirror, bare-chested, and caresses himself. He then removes the rest of his clothes. There are male bodybuilding magazines on his dresser. A frustrated Martin eventually smashes the mirror.
Martin sets in motion a plan to leave home, pretending to go to France. He then shows up at Susan's mother's house, where she rents rooms. Presenting himself as Georgie, he gains sympathy both from Susan and her mother, who let him stay. Martin wants Susan to accept him as a lover, but cannot reveal that he is in fact Martin, as he is worried she will shun him.
One night, Martin steals scissors, leaves, and stabs his stepfather to death after the latter leaves a dinner party. The police investigate the murder and seek Martin for questioning.
Days later, Martin invites himself to tag along with Susan who is going for a swim at a country lake. There, Martin attempts to kiss Susan, who refuses his advances. Later at home, Susan searches Martin's room while cleaning and discovers books hidden in a drawer that a person with learning difficulties would not read or understand, as well as a book titled Know Yourself from Your Handwriting, in which signatures in the blank pages read 'Martin Durnley'.
Susan begins investigating Martin, talks with his mother, and realises that the two brothers are one and the same after seeing a photograph of Martin at the house. Susan visits her friend Shashee at a hospital where he works to question him about split personalities.
At Susan's house, Martin begins losing control over himself while suspecting that Susan may know who he really is. When Susan's neglected and unsuspecting mother attempts to sexually arouse Martin, he kills her with a hatchet.
When Susan arrives home, Martin holds her captive in his room after revealing his true persona. He forces Susan to undress so he can sexually fondle her, while her mother's body is found in the woodshed by Gerry Henderson, one of the "paying guests", who calls the police while Shashee learns the truth about Martin and races to the house to rescue Susan.
The police arrive and burst into Susan's room as Martin fires three times at his reflection in the mirror. While being taken away, he claims that he is Georgie and has killed Martin. Martin is confined in a cell at a mental hospital, ranting over his lost love Susan.
Release
Controversy
The film is notorious for its use of Down syndrome, then referred to as mongolism, as a catalyst for Martin's actions. Letters of complaint were sent to the British censor before the film's release, including one from the National Association for Mental Health. The film's medical adviser, Professor Lionel Penrose, asked for his name to be removed from the film. Roy Boulting said these complaints caused him "shock and surprise and a deep sense of regret and depression". [15] This led to the filmmakers adding a voiceover just prior to the credits which said:
In view of the controversy already aroused, the producers of this film wish to re-emphasise what is already stated in the film, that there is no established scientific connection between mongolism and psychotic or criminal behaviour. [16]
Even after that had been added, David Ennals, then a Minister of State, Health and Social Security, said: "I do not wish to criticise the film as a film. But I feel it is extremely unfortunate that despite the spoken disclaimer which precedes it, this film can give the impression that there is such a link." [17]
As The New York Times put it, "this is a delicate area indeed", going on to describe the film as "more unsettling than rewarding, and certainly more contrived than compassionate". [18]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Small wonder that the makers of Twisted Nerve found it necessary to appease outraged medical opinion by adding an introduction to the film disclaiming any implied connection between mongolism and psychotic behaviour. The Boultings may have set out to make a serious comment on the plight of the mentally disordered, but what they have produced is a crudely sensationalist thriller decked out with some pseudoscientific jargon which suggests, intentionally or not, that the siblings of mongoloid children are likely to end up as homicidal maniacs. Any claim to seriousness is unequivocally nullified by Roy Boulting's bludgeoning approach to his already distasteful material ... But even viewed as a straightforward thriller, the film is so clumsily and predictably put together (witness the rash of timely coincidences in the climactic sequence) that the insurance company which has offered to pay out to the dependents of anyone dying of shock while watching it is hardly likely to find any clients. Billie Whitelaw (as the landlady) and Barry Foster (as a seedy film salesman decrying the trend towards sex and violence in the cinema, no less) apart, the performances are unremarkable: Hywel Bennett is baby-faced enough to make his childlike persona moderately convincing but can't manage the rest; and Hayley Mills shuffles through it all on a high-pitched monotone trying hard to look adult and concerned." [19]
The Guardian called the film "gross, clumsy and ridiculously predictable." [20]
The Observer called it "a glossy commercial psycho thriller which if it weren't for its pernicious implications would be perfectly horrifying" arguing the film would have been better had the character of the elder brother never existed. "Twisted Nerve is a fairly good blood chiller in its genre so long as it is clearly understood that it is a pack of lies." [21]
The Los Angeles Times called it "thoroughly engrossing, spine tingling." [22]
Filmink called it "not a very good movie in which Mills doesn’t have much to do except react – I think Boulting was trying to fashion her as a Hitchcock blonde but she’s very passive and the movie lacks the directorial flair of a Hitchcock, Seth Holt or Freddie Francis." [23]
