Movies
Twixt (Twixt Now And Sunrise)
“It is with great displeasure in reporting back that Twixt is an absolutely horrible film. The 3-D experience is beyond pointless, and no matter how many edited versions Coppola has up his sleeve it can’t be salvaged. ‘Twixt‘ a bland, cheesy, poorly shot snoozer that’s not even fun as a midnight movie.”
Next to Livid and Your’e Next I was most excited for the TIFF premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt, which was said to grow out of a nightmare by the infamous director of Godfather. What he perceives as a nightmare translates into cheesy ’90s movie starring a fat Val Kilmer.
Kilmer stars as writer with a declining career who arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V (Elle Fanning). It leads to him co-writing his new novel, “The Vampire Executions”, with the local sheriff. He continually forces himself to sleep to learn how the story will end.
The pic is already slated for a bizarre theatrical run where Coppola plans on editing the film live based on audience reactions. It’s an absolutely terrible idea as the only reaction out of my theater were scoffs and laughs, especially when the giant pair of 3-D glasses swim on screen prompting the audience to pop theirs on. Even more bizarre was how pointless and short the 3-D sequences were, both of which also had the audience chuckling.
The real joke, though, is the actual plot. The audience is forced to watch how a crappy writer is inspired by a lame local tale to write an even more stupid story. Kilmer, Fanning, and all of the locals carry zero charisma making Twixt a shocking bore without a single shred of charm. Once again the protagonist, played by Kilmer, is a piece of sh*t that the audience will root against. Why must filmmakers make such unlikeable characters? It’s a lifeless tale that also looked cheap and crappy.
It is with great displeasure in reporting back that Twixt is an absolutely horrible film. The 3-D experience is beyond pointless, and no matter how many edited versions Coppola has up his sleeve, it can’t be salvaged. Twixt a bland, cheesy, poorly shot snoozer that isn’t even fun as a midnight movie.
The bar wasn’t very high to clear, but Lionsgate’s The Strangers: Chapter 1 did manage to break a box office record here in 2024, achieving the highest opening weekend at the domestic box office out of any horror movie released this year… so far. This despite largely negative reviews, once again proving that the horror genre is as review-proof as it comes.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 debuted with $11.83M at the domestic box office in 2,856 locations, just barely topping Blumhouse’s Night Swim to rip the crown off the top of its head.
Here’s the full lineup of domestic opening weekends for horror this year…
- The Strangers: Chapter 1 – $11.8 million
- Night Swim – $11.7 million
- Abigail – $10.2 million
- Imaginary – $9.9 million
- The First Omen – $8.3 million
- Tarot – $6.5 million
- Immaculate – $5.3 million
- Lisa Frankenstein – $3.6 million
For further context and comparison, 2018’s The Strangers: Prey at Night opened to $10.4 million before making $31 million worldwide, a number Chapter 1 may eventually reach.
The good news for Lionsgate is that the production budget for The Strangers: Chapter 1 was a reported $8.5 million, so there’s a good chance this one will soon be profitable. But is it enough to justify theatrical releases for both Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, which will continue Chapter 1‘s storyline and have already been filmed? Or will Lionsgate pivot to a streaming release?
These are the questions we can’t help but ponder today. Stay tuned for more.
Madelaine Petsch (“Riverdale”), Froy Gutierrez (Hocus Pocus 2), Rachel Shenton (The Silent Child), Ema Horvath (“Rings of Power”) and Gabe Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) star.
Here’s the full official synopsis: “After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive.”
Renny Harlin directed The Strangers: Chapter 1.
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